Discovering Akatsuki
by RouraKurai
Summary: Story about a girl who is recruited by the akatsuki and discovers what really does go on at the Akatsuki. She falls in love with one of the members. Deidara Fans: Do not fret it is not him.
1. The Girl Who Changed it All

**Discovering Akatsuki**

**Chapter 1. The girl who changed it all.**

It was mid-noon when Kurai noticed the strange difference in the air.

Since she was very little she had always dreamt of fantastic things happening to her, but when none happened

she realized that, those we're exactly what they'd always be, fantasies, dreams.

Maybe that's why she didn't notice the figure walking behind her. She shivered a little, the air had gotten cold.

"Dumb Weather man" she muttered "Sunny my ass" she said.

But the cracking of a twig behind her caught her attention

"hmm?" as she bent to examinte it more closely her heart raced. "Woah, slow dow or you'll kill me" she said placing

a hand over her heart as she stood up.

She continued to walk, this time a little bit more aware of her surroundings, she wrapped her hands around herself

in an effort to cover herself from the wind.

"Maybe I should go back home..." she thought aloud. But she didn't have much more time to think about it as right before

her eyes arose a figure that made her stumble backwards.

"You're... You're..." but the words weren't coming out.

"Uchiha, Itachi" He said narrowing his eyes. Kurai's mouth was hanging open "that's..."

"Impossible?" he asked smirking "I think not" he said.

Kurai was rooted to the spot.

"What brings you here?" She asked, rather afraid of the answer.

"You"

Kurai started to run in his oposite direction, nothing that came fromt he Akatsuki was good. She was certain of that.

Halfway through her run, as she glanced back to see if Itachi was following her, she slammed straight into someone,

someone who oddly enough was as terror inspiring as Itachi. She gasped, this time shaking a little because she knew she had been

cornered.

"Going somewhere?" he said menacingly

"Anywhere far from you" she answered, but just then a third figure emerged from the shadows

"But we're not going to hurt you!" he said, in a very different tone

"Then why scare me in this manner?" She asked.

"Because they like to do that"

"Shut up Tobi" said Itachi, as he catched up with Kurai. "You have to come with us, be it by force or by will" he said

"Why?" she asked

"We don't have to answer to you" said the other guy, "now move along or I'll MAKE you move" he said inching closer. Kurai took a step backward

then started following Itachi.

"So whats your name?" Asked Tobi.

"Roura, Kurai" She said startled.

"oooh That's a pretty name!" he excalimed

"Thank you" she said bowing her head a little. Could it be a dream? maybe a nightmare?... this was her Life fantasy, to meet someone who was

supposed not to be real... but this wasn't exactly the way she was expecting anything of the sort to happen.

"Can I ask you at least.. why?" She asked seriously, and before Itachi could answer Tobi chimed in

"The leader wanted us to bring him someone from the so called 'real world' but it had to be someone who could hear us, see us and have a

certain amount of chakra"

"Tobi I'm going to kill you" said Itachi menacingly.

But whether they fought or not Kurai was just too amazed that such a thing could be happening. Certainly... Certainly this was a dream. She had

never recieved any kind of training. She just had the blind faith that someday something would happen to her. And now that it was finally happening...

"uhm... if you all exist... surely.. surely Hoshigake Kisame exists too..." she thought out loud.

Itachi whipped around "what with him"

"nothing at all... it's just... I... I think I may know you all..." she replied truthfully

"you can't know us..." said the scary guy behind her.

Kurai spun around, "you" she said "are a puppeter, with chakra stings from your hands you can control puppets. You have made yourself into a puppet, your

heart is inside a glass vase and you poison people who then die and you turn them into puppets. Lastly, your name is Sasori and you're actually the oldest member

of the akatsuki organization. Then we have Tobi. Who actually is Obito from the Uchiha clan and the REAL leader, because Pein recieves orders from him" she spun once

more and faced Itachi "Uchiha Itachi, Genius ninja, proud with a superiority complex you posses the sharingan which you used against your own brother Sasuke when

you met him at an Inn when looking for Uzumaki, Naruto. You killed your entire clan. Your partner is Hoshigake Kisame, half shark, half human he is the one with the most

chakra power. In fact he lent the leader one third of his chakra for a mission. He posseses the mighty samehada a sword made of shark skin who will only let him wield it

and it's purpose is not to cut, but to rip away the skin of his enemies"

For the first time in their life, they were stunned. She had practically read out their lives, and strategies.

Itachi grabbed her by the neck.

"how the hell did you get this information" He asked menacingly. But Kurai was smarter than that.

"I just KNOW it, now please let go of me!" she said anxiously. Itachi let her go

"That was awesome Kurai!" said Tobi in awe.

"Heh... I guess? I mean I know everyone in your world" she said.

They remained silent for the rest of the walk. Kurai was immersed in her own thoughts. -This means... I can finally meet Kisame...- her heart raced at the very thought of it

"Ne Kurai, you're red are you ok?" Tobi asked peering intently at Kurai

"oh! yes I'm fine it's just cold out here" she said smiling.

"The akatsuki is colder" he said "that's why I wear gloves all the time"

"I guess you're right" she said. -If that's colder I'm gonna catch a cold- she thought for herself.

"Sasori. Blind her" said Itachi, and before Kurai could even realize what was happening Sasori had covered her eyes with something.

"What!? why! no!" she exclaimed terrified.

"Don't worry it's just so you don't see where the portal is" said Tobi

"I'M NOT COMIING BACK!?" she shrieked

"No" said Sasori evily.

She could feel the tears burning in her eyes. Knew what would happen later that day when she didn't get home. Knew she was leaving everything. She felt someone push her

and she was free falling for a moment before her reflexes kicked in and she landed cat-like on something soft, Sasori lifted the blind and she quickly shook the tears out.

She would cry when she was alone. But never in front of them. When she looked up the most amazing sight met her eyes. She was inside the akatsuki, in what looked like

an inner garden. Zetsu was sitting under a tree, Kurai couldn't help but stare for a moment before she realized what she was doing and looked away.

Tobi had been right, it was colder here. And it was night.

They led her inside the building as she looked animatedly at everything, then into another room. Where Pein stood, waiting for them.

"So this is her" he said.

"Yes" Itachi answered

"you can leave"

They nodded and the three dissapeared. Kurai shook a little but contained herself. This was scarier that what she had always known.

"So... your name is..."

"Roura, Kurai" she said inclining her head forward slightly.

"Good you know you're-"

"Working for you as a person from the so called 'real world', yes" she said

"How do you-"

"Know all about it and this world?, I don't know. It's stored inside my mind" she answered.

Pein was immensely amused by this.

"Then you can be our information provider" He said, narrowing his eyes. "I'd like to know. What'll be of this organization?" he said.

"I am not a fortune teller, but I do know someone will die... and if you can avoid it... it'll be better" she said looking at the floor

"Who-"

"Deidara"

"Damn... how can I know your words are true?" he said

"I know everything I have to know about this world" she said calmly

"Good. You may go" He said

Kurai walked outside. No one was there, and she panicked for a minute before regaining her composture. "This place is huge... how am I supposed to get around?" she

asked out loud.

"I'll show you" said Tobi from behind a door. Kurai jumped

"Tobi! please don't do that!" she said shaking.

"I'm sorry" he said as he handed he a robe "here, this will help with the cold" he said as she put the robe on

"But this.. this is the akatsuki uniform!" she shrieked starting to take it off, but Tobi grabbed the robe and put it firmly on her shoulders.

"You can wear it. You're one of us now" he said

"If that's the case" she said and undid her hair bun, letting her hair flow freely down to her mid-thighs. Tobi's mouth hung open in awe

"Yes I know, it's pretty long. But If I'm going to be here, might as well do it in style" she said bringing out an eyeliner and highly outlining her eyes.

"You look awesome that way. Deidara will be jealous" he said.

"I don't think so..." she said as Tobi led her to another room

"You can sleep here" he said

"Whose room is this?" She asked, but just then, Kisame entered the room

"what the.."

Kurai was as red as could be. Thanks God she could always blame it on the cold. -This is it! It's him! oh my God he's much more awesome in real!- she thought

her eyes literally shining.

"Eh.. I guess you found out whose room it is" said Tobi "are you cold again? because youre all red" he said examining her face closer.

Kurai was startled "eh.. eh.. no I'm um... excuse me" she said lowering her face to avoid more humilliation as she walked out the room, leaving Tobi and Kisame inside.

"Who the hell is her?" Asked Kisame staring at the door.

"Shes our new information provider" Tobi answered eyeing Kisame curiously

"Really..." he said not moving his eyes from the door.

"Yeees... why are you staring like that at the door?" Tobi asked

"No real reason. Why were you bringing her to MY room" he asked tearing his gaze away from the door and glaring at Tobi

"Eh.. hehe well she seemed interested in you when we went to collect her" he said nonchalantly

"What!?" he asked amazed "interested?! in what way?!" he asked grabbing Tobi by the front of his shirt

"I don't know! for some reason you were the first person she reffered to"

"She doesn't know me" he said

"She does. She knows EVERYTHING about us, good thing the leader decided to find her before those people from Konoha" he said as Kisame put him down.

"really? then she wouldn't mind me asking her a few questions..." he said with an evil grin as he exited the room.

Kurai was just standing at the oposite end of the hallway with a confused look.

"Oy! Kisame I don't think it's a good idea" cried Tobi as Kisame approached Kurai, who turned around and faced him serenely

"Yeah well I still wanna ask her" he said

Kurai's heart raced -ask me? ask me what?!- she thought anxiously

"Tobi says you know everything about me... about us, the akatsuki, is that true?" he said menacingly his face inches from hers. She could feel the blood rushing to her

face as she took a step backwards.

"Why yes, I happen to know everything about you" she said.

"Well then tell me" he said crossing his arms and grinning wickedly

Kurai sighed before she started "Hoshigake Kisame, half shark, half human. Proud owner of Samehada. You have the most Chakra in the whole akatsuki. You lent 1/3 of it

to the leader for a mission. Itachi's partner-"

"Not anymore" said Pein as he appeared out of nowhere. "you were not lying when you said you knew everything. You're Kisame's new partner now"

Kurai almost fainted. The blood from her face raced down to her feet as her heart entered into a new stage of speed.

"Are you serious?" both Kisame and Kurai asked.

"Does it look like I'm playing?"

"No of course not. Sorry" apologized Kisame.

"Great because you have a mission. Right now." he said "you have to infiltrate konoha and kill as many Chuunins as you can"

"What for leader?" Asked Tobi

"We're invading and we need to have as little resistance as we can Tobi" said Pein annoyed.

"Oh can I go!?"

"No."

"Uhm.. leader... Allthough I know everything I am not a ninja" Kurai said timidly, looking at the floor.

"I am aware of that. Do you have any kind of skills you could use?"

Kurai shook her head "No, I'm sorry" she said still looking at the floor.

"What's so interesting in the floor" Tobi asked looking at the floor beneath Kurai.

"Nothing" she mumbled and turned her gaze anywhere.

"In that case, Tobi you can go. She'll be trained" Pein said. Tobi and Kisame left, and Pein guided Kurai to yet another room.

"Now, for you to have been able to see us, you should've had some certain amount of chakra" Pein said as he started making some weird drawings on a piece of parchment.

"So what I'm going to do now is check to see if there's anything else whe should've known, such as a hidden demon or anything of the sort" he said "turn around"

As Kurai turned around the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. This wasn't going to be nice.

"Is this going to hurt?" she asked

"Yes. Probably a lot" He said slapping the piece of parchment onto Kurai's back.

It was instant blinding pain. Kurai screamed her heart out as several glittering shadows sprung from her chest. Pein took a step backward.

But almost as soon as the pain started it stopped. Kurai lay crumpled up on the floor shaking.

"Well there were one or two things I had no idea about you. And by the looks of it you had no idea either." Pein said as he removed the parchment piece from her back.

Kurai was too shaken to speak, and because it seemed Pein had found what he was looking for he just left. After that everything went black for Kurai.

"Wake up... Kurai... wake up..." someone was shaking her gently

"please don't do that..." she heard herself say

"Am I hurting you?"

"yes..."

"I'm so sorry!"

"Tobi?..."

"Yes Kurai, it's me... what happened?" He asked

"Pein stuck a parchment thing on my back and.. and then it was all pain and I really can't remember it" she said focusing her eyes on Tobi's mask

"She alive?"

"Yeah"

"Someone else is here?" she asked almost in a whisper

"Kisame is here"

"how did you guys find me?"

"Pein told us to train you"

"Oh I see..." said Kurai standing up, helf held by Tobi

"Thank you Tobi... I really..." Kurai wondered why that simple little parchment had had such an effect on her...

"No don't worry it looks like something terrible..." said Tobi and he helped her out while Kisame held the door. Maybe Kurai was imagining things, but she thought...

for a very brief second she had seen something... something like concern... in Kisame's eyes.

Kurai didn't know where Tobi was leading her, she was too exhausted to think or even try to assimilate what happened around her. They passed Deidara on their way

who stared confused at Kurai before continuing whatever he was doing.

After a while they arrived at what looked like Tobi's room.

"You can sleep here for a while" he said Innocently, unaware that such an expression would have cause commotion back from where Kurai came from. But Kurai couldn't

stay awake much longer, and before she reached the bed she fainted.

"AH! Kurai!" Tobi exclaimed as her dead weight almost brought him down, but Kisame reacted even before him seizing her by the waist and carrying her to the bed where he

placed her.

"Tobi you don't react fast enough. That's gonna get you killed one of these days" He said casting a quick glance back at Kurai.

"Sorry Kisame-san! I really didn't think she'd black out!" he apologized hurriedly, but behind the mask he was smiling. There was a reason why he had not reacted, and

it came out as well as he had expected it.

"Meh, make sure when she wakes up she comes outside, we really can't afford to lose time like this" he said before walking out. Tobi stared at Kurai for a while

"Ne... I think I know why you referred to Kisame first..." He thought out loud. To his incredible surprise Kurai answered

"You think so Tobi?" she asked almost in a whisper, her eyes still closed, Tobi jumped.

"Kurai! you're awake!?" he asked hurriedly, but then he noticed she had her eyes closed

"No Tobi... I can only listen but I can't open my eyes"

"Wow that was quite something Pein did!" he exclaimed trying to imagine the scene.

"It was... but I'm glad it's over... I think that... If I sleep for a bit more I'll be ok" she said, and after that Kurai knew of nothing till what she thought was the next day.

She could hear voices, but she didn't dare open her eyes.

"Has she woken up yet?" She recognized Kisame's voice

"No..." answered Tobi

"Are you sure she's okay?" he asked

"I think she is... why?" aked Tobi

"We're losing time..."

"there's more of a reason to that than what you just said eh?" said Tobi sheepishly

Kurai regretted not being able to open her eyes. She would've died to see Kisame's face at that moment.

"Not at all Tobi" he answered menacingly

Kurai couldn't stay still any longer so she slowly sat up

"Nee Kurai! you're awake!" exclaimed Tobi

"So it seems Tobi" answered Kurai, to her surprise she felt as good as new, all the pain and exhaustion had disappeared.

"If you're feeling good enough we're gonna start the training now" said Kisame. Kurai peered in his direction timidly, maybe she was imagining stuff again

but those eyes... that she had seen expresionless... or full of anger... -No... I'm thinking stuff now. I'm having a stupid reaction to a simple situation- she thought looking

down at the floor.

"Yes. I'm okay, let's just... finish whatever I have to do" she said standing up and going out to the garden with Kisame and Tobi. Zetsu was, once again, under a tree in

the garden, as she looked in his direction they made eye contact and she smiled sincerely, leaving him quite confused; after all... no one had ever smiled at Zetsu before.

They walked till they reached a clearing

"Okay" said Kisame, bringing forth Samehada "First I'll test your reaction skills" he said

Kurai braced herself. Being a full time dancer and gymnastic student she had never faced such a thing. But she knew what she was capable of doing.

Before she had even time to prepare herself Kisame was allready swinging samehada in her direction. She jumped about 3 feet into the air and as Kisame swung

samehada at her once more she flipped backwards and jumped into a tree.

Tobi was speechless, but Kisame knew that was not just it.

"Suiton! Bakusui Shouha!" He exclaimed filling the whole place with water. "Let's see what you can do when you can't jump" he said "Suiton! Suikodan no jutsu!" he

roared as a huge shark emerged from the water and flew at Kurai. She gasped but she knew what to do. She dived inside the water, closely followed by the shark

then she instantly spun around and kicked the shark in the nose. It blasted off and the waves slammed Kurai into a tree trunk.

"Ne Kisame remember it's just a test, you're not supposed to kill her!" exclaimed Tobi as Kurai coughed some water out of her lungs.

"Meh, I'm not going to kill her" he said "well, your reflexes are okay, is there any kind of way in which you can defend yourself?" he asked

"I can only know when I fight" she said. Because she knew that saying anything would be compromising. Considering she didn't really know if she had skills or not.

"I'll fight her" said Tobi

"I guess" said Kisame as he stepped aside

"Okay Kurai I won't fight with jutsus, only taijutsu" he said as he positioned himself.

Allthough Kurai knew what would happen next she jumped into a branch and braced herself. Next thing she knew Tobi was about to punch her in the face, so she did the first

thing that came to her mind. She placed her hand in front of her face and caught Tobi's fist then swung herself from the branch bringing Tobi down with her. But nice as Tobi

was he wasn't going to go soft on her, he swirled around and was about to kick her in the back when she touched the ground and spun away in a ballet fashion.

Never once before had they encountered someone who avoided a kick in that way. But something caught Kisame's interest and it was the fact Kurai was doing all this

with her eyes closed. -That's interesting- he thought, but a second later his interest was sprung once more when she actually started dancing to avoid Tobi's punches and

kicks. Still with her eyes closed. And then suddenly she did a backflip and caught both of Tobis hands moving them swiftly to his back. Tobi was defenseless.

"Ne Kurai that was awesome!" he exclaimed

"Thank you Tobi" she said and turned to Kisame "That's what I can do" she said, this time looking straight into Kisame's eyes.

"That's okay too. Nothing that cannot be improved but.."

"It was very nice to watch" I agree said Zetsu half smiling. Kurai smiled at Zetsu

"Thank you Zetsu-san" she said bowing a little. Kisame didn't look pleased.

"Who invited you here?" he asked flatly

"No one" we can go where we please Kisame he said seriously

"But I have to agree with Zetsu, un that was nice, un" said Deidara from a nearby branch grinning. Kurai Gasped. Was the whole organization here?

"Definetely"

"Damn right"

She turned around and there were Kakuzu and Hidan looking proud. She couldn't help but smile and look at the floor, it was flattering that she was getting this kind of

recognition from men she knew were completely serious about killing and being badasses. Kisame looked like he could kill. Instead he just turned around and left.

Kurai walked over to Tobi and whispered "was this your idea?" if Kurai could have seen behind Tobi's mask she would have clearly seen the huge smile that had just settled

in his face

"You never know" he said "come on, it's getting dark"

"uh... can I stay a bit more.. alone?" she asked

"I don't think you can do that Kurai, no one is ever alone. And if I left you alone the leader would probably think we brought along a spy" he replied

"I can stay here" We said Zetsu

"If she doesn't mind, un.. I wan't to stay to, un" said Deidara

"Hey if they can stay we want to stay too" said Kakuzu

"Hell yes"

Kurai was apalled. She just wanted some time to relax and meditate. But instead it seemed she was going to have to make a show.

"Are you all staying because you think I'm going to dance?" she asked rather afraid

"Yes" they answered at the exact same time, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay then I'll dance for you one time and then we can go back"

"By the way we haven't introduced ourselves" said Kakuzu "I'm Kakuzu"

"I'm Hidan" said Hidan bowing

"Deidara, un" said Deidara with a short nod

"I'm Zetsu" we're said Zetsu

"My name is Roura, Kurai" she said bowing gracefuly.

She closed her eyes and imagined a piano playing softly... only the tips of her feet touching the ground she began swirling in time with the music in her head, jumping

and landing doing countless swirls, until she had to stop or she'd fall. When she opened her eyes she grinned and fell sitting on the ground.

She looked around. They were all silent but they were smiling too... Until Tobi broke the silence

"Awesome Kurai!!" he said clapping his gloved hands together. She just smiled and stood up, one side of her was happy... but then... there was a sadness that couldn't go

unexplained. And she knew what it was about. Kisame hadn't been there. She looked at the ground smiling, but her heart was sad.

Of course she hadn't noticed Kisame, who was hidden behind some trees. Surprisingly enough. He also carried a smile.

"Well then, un. It's late and we've got stuff to do, un" said Deidara dissappearing into the night, and to Kurai's surprise so did the others, even Tobi, but Zetsu stayed behind.

"Thank you for being nice to us" yes, thank you he said approaching Kurai

"Oh that's not a problem" said Kurai smiling. "I always wanted to be your friend" she said

"We don't understand" you don't know us he said concerned

"To be true... I do know you" she said looking once more at the floor

"How?" what? he asked

"For some reason I seem to know you all in the akatsuki, Kisame, Tobi, Itachi, Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Sasori, Pein, Konan... even you Zetsu..." she said sitting down again

"Then you know us?" like we really are? he asked

Kurai nodded, "Because of you really are is why I wanted to be your friend. I'd see you and you always seemed lonely and sad..." she said looking up at the stars "A bit

like how I've always been" she said looking at Zetsu

"I see" we understand he said sitting next to her "how does this friend thing work?" and what is it? he asked

"well... we can always be honest with each other, and we can go to places and do fun stuff together, and we can tell secrets only to each other and promise to always be

by their side" she said solemnly

"I understand" yeah he said nodding

"Well then Zetsu come on, let's go back or the leader will think I'm a spy" she said standing up and extending her hand to help him up. Zetsu was overwhelmed, but he took

her hand and stood up, rather lightly

"Your hand is..." warm he said looking at the palm of his hand

"Oh of course, that's because I'm... well alive" she said half smiling

"Oh that explains it" pretty much

Kurai nodded and followed the path back. It had been a very nice night but... Kisame hadn't been there...

"Why do you allways look at the floor Kurai?" hmm I hadn't noticed that asked Zetsu

She looked up "well..." she turned around and faced him "This night was awesome.. but the thing is.. well..."

"we're friends... and" friends trust each other said Zetsu, the concerned look never leaving his face

"I'm sad that Kisame wasn't there" she said still looking at the floor

"Maybe he was" maybe he was hiding he said half smiling. Kurai looked up into Zetsu's eyes

"maybe..." she said turning around and continuing to walk towards the base

Zetsu cast a quick glance to his right and grinned. Kisame mouthed the words "I'll Kill you" but Zetsu just smiled mischeviously and followed Kurai quietly. As soon as they

arrived they found a commotion

"What's going on?" who died? asked Zetsu

"Nothing, un-"

"A shitload of damned new missions" said Hidan

"Nice vocabulary" said Kurai grinning

"Is that compliment or an insult?" asked Kakuzu

"I don't know" she said

"Pay attention!" snapped Konan "you" she pointed at Kurai "you're going this time with Kakuzu and Hidan" she said. Kurai was about to say something but Konan cut her short

"You argue I'll kill you"

This was not well received by more than half of the guys but they stood their place and didn't say a word except for Hidan and Kakuzu who gestured Kurai to follow them, she

smiled back at Zetsu once and followed them.

"Tell us about this guy we're supposed to erradicate... Naara, Shikamaru" said Kakuzu. Kurai gasped

"Hold your horses!!" she almost yelled. They stopped abruptly "What the hell?" asked Hidan

"He's going... oh my God Hidan ok ok... look this is what's going to happen. He's going to lure you into a trap. The Naara clan forest where he'll blow you up into a hole, thus

sepparating your body into pieces and putting you under the ground. It's the only way he can destroy you. Besides! be very careful when Kakashi puts Kakuzu's blood on your

scythe... because Kakuzu looses a heart if you cut yourself. Not Kakashi or Shikamaru!" she exclaimed almost without breath.

"So you're saying.."

"Yes.. we have to get them as far from the original place as possible!" she said

"You're fucking perfect" grinned Hidan. But Kurai was afraid, and as they continued their path she noticed her hands were shaking.

They arrived at the planned scenario. The fight begun. Kakuzu and Kurai were hiding in a tree. Kurai looked in horror as Kakashi put Kakuzu's blood in the scythe but this time

Hidan was prevented and cleaned his scythe.

"Heh, you're such a stupid idiot" he said evily

"What?! how the hell..."

"That's of no damned concern to you asshole" Hidan said. But Kakashi had noticed Kakuzu and Kurai in the tree "Shikamaru! go for the girl!" he said but to their surprise

Shikamaru didn't move instead a Kakashi clone snuck up on Kurai and cut her arm before pretending to fall.

"Ow!" she said holding her arm cringing. Hidan threw his scythe at Kakashi but Kakashi was smarter and used the same kunai he had used to cut Kurai to stop Hidan's

scythe, and as Hidan retrieved his scythe Kakuzu grabbed Kurai and ran in opposite direction. Shikamaru was about to follow them but Kakashi shot a glare at him and he stood

his place.

"Now.. where were we... ah yes" said Hidan, revealing his black and white body. "I'm fucking ending this" he said as he quickly slashed his chest accross. Kakashi smiled,

almost instantly, somewhere a bit far from Hidan a highpitched scream was heard.

"WHAT THE FUCK! KAKASHI YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" yelled Hidan charging at him.

"KURAI! What the hell?!" Kakuzu jumped as a slash appeared out of nowhere on Kurai

"Kakuzu! run to Hidan! QUICK! He's going to fall into the trap anyway!!!" she yelled trying to stay standing

"NO! you-"

"GO GOD DAMN IT KAKUZU GOOO!" She screamed before falling to her knees and coughing up blood "If I die I want to at least die knowing I was of use!" she said in a lower

tone, and almost as soon as Kakuzu left Shikamaru stepped out of a shadow and binded her, forcing her to stand up

"New member of the Akatsuki..." he said "hmm this is annoying. Why did they recruit you?" he asked

"I'd love to answer. But I really won't" she said angrily

"You don't understand" he started to say, but Kurai cut him short

"Of course I understand Shikamaru!" she said. Shikamaru was taken aback, but almost instantly noticed something and dissappeared into the night, and as he lifted the bind

jutsu Kurai fell to her knees once more, trying not to cough this time. Almost two minutes after Kakuzu and Hidan emerged from some bushes Hidan was furious.

"Explain"

"When Kakashi cut my arm he used the same kunai to stop your blade. Thus putting my blood on your scythe" Kurai managed to say, before Kakuzu lifted her and they started

running back.

It was not a pretty sight. Zetsu was the first one there, always sitting under a tree. They arrived at the break of dawn and ran quickly inside. Zetsu jumped up and followed

them.

Kakuzu ripped open the akatsuki robe and the most ugly sight met his eyes, he quickly started to sow the gaping wound close, just as Zetsu Kisame Tobi and Deidara arrived.

Zetsu cringed, Kisame just stared in blatant fury, Deidara looked slightly nauseated, and Tobi gasped "What the hell happened!?"

"God damned motherfucking Kakashi" said Hidan, his fury competing with Kisame's.

"He did that,un?" asked Deidara raising an eyebrow.

"Of course he did" said Kakuzu "He put her blood on Hidan's scythe before Hidan tried to kill him" he explained as he landed the last stitches.

"Very clever of him" said Pein as he stepped forward to inspect "and she's still awake?" he said amusedly

"I'm sorry" said Kurai avoiding Pein's eyes, but he remained silent

"Hidan you idiot" said Kisame barely containing his fury

"shut up shark"

Pein disappeared

"what the hell did you just call me you bastard?!" Kisame asked menacingly narrowing his eyes

"Hey, guys don't fight. 'Tis but a scratch" she said smiling a bit weakly. They both quit and she smiled softly sitting up

"Be careful with that" said Kisame, Kurai smiled at him. "Thank you Kakuzu" she said placing a hand over her heart.

"No... thank you for saving us" he said rather embarassed

"How did that save you, un?" asked Deidara curiously

"She knew what was going to happen" said Hidan as he explained what was supposed to happen and what really happened

"Oh that explains a lot" that's just incredible said Zetsu amazed

"How can she know all this, un?" asked Deidara

"She just knows it" said Itachi as he literally appeared out of nowhere Glaring at everyone.

"exactly!" chimed in Tobi

But at that moment Kurai couldn't keep much more track of the conversation. Her head was spinning softly driving her into a pleasant sleep

"oy... OY Kurai!" said Tobi reaching out to move Kurai but Kakuzu slapped his hand back

"She's sleeping"

"Again" said Kisame annoyed

"Well.. is there anything wrong with that, un?" asked Deidara to the amused looks of everyone.

"Of course... Of course not!" he said taken aback "you idiots" he said as he stalked out of the room

"Ooooh you're thinking what I'm thinking Deidara?" asked Tobi

"I may be, un" he said eyeing Tobi

"What are you thinking?" yeah Tobi share it with us asked Zetsu

"I can't. Not yet" he said grinning behind his mask.

"why not?" asked Hidan

"Because" said Tobi

Shortly after that they all started leaving, Tobi, Zetsu and Deidara Hid and for a while nothing happened. Then suddenly the door opened slowly and a tall figure emerged

from behind it. Kisame.

He softly approached Kurai, picked her up and carried her to Tobi's room. Not a minute had passed since he had closed the door when Zetsu, Hidan and Tobi sprung

out from their hiding.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Tobi

"Yeah, un. He doesn't know how to hide his emotions quite well yet, un" said Deidara grinning

"That's..." different said Zetsu half smiling.

And so. This is the story of the girl who came from the real world. Into the insubstantial world of the Akatsuki. Into the wonders of an age where honor was the most important.

Where love was true and endless. But above all. An age full of magic and evil, where the true meaning of life was to survive.


	2. Mission Accomplished

**Chapter2.**

**Mission Accomplished.**

Kurai moved to a side, avoiding the sunlight in her eyes. It had been a month since she had gotten to the akatsuki.

There was a sudden knock on her door and Kisame entered the room

"Oy wake up, we've got a-" he stopped short

"You really can't do that when you go into a girls room" said Kurai turning her back on him as she continued to put on her blouse and Akatsuki robe

"I'm not even going to ask. We've got a mission"

"Really?" she asked brightly turning around as she fashioned her hair into a braid

"No, I'm playing. Of course we do you idiot" said Kisame grinning evily

"Oh thank you for the compliment" she said vaguely as she exited the room and ran out into the garden "Oy Zetsu Good day!" she said before disappearing into the woods

followed by Kisame who shook his head in disapproval.

Zetsu grinned as Tobi and Deidara walked out from behind some trees.

"You planned this didn't you?" of course they did he asked

"Heh, of course, un" answered Deidara

"It was a brilliant Idea Zetsu!" said Tobi animatedly

"Kisame is not going to like it" not at all said Zetsu smiling sheepishly

"Oh come on, it's a beautiful place" said Tobi

"We're gonna go spy, un" said Deidara

"Want to come over?" asked Tobi

"Okay" I guess said Zetsu following them cautiously into the woods.

"Where's this place?" is it romantic? he asked

"It's artistic, un" said Deidara

"It's the cliff" said Tobi

"Hey that place can be really-" dangerous you know said Zetsu aprehensively

"Nah, un. Nothing Kisame can't handle, un" said Deidara as they aproached the cliff

Kurai was perplexed

"No one's here" she said scanning the place carefully

"So it seems..." Said Kisame as he looked back

"What kind of mission is-YEAAAAAAAAARGH!!" She screamed as Shikamaru jumped out of nowhere and threw her off the cliff

"WHAT THE-KURAI!" yelled Kisame running to the end of the cliff

"YOU SON OF A TOASTER!" She yelled at Shikamaru as she impulsed herself and punched him repeatedly

"What the-! Kisame what's wrong, un?" yelled Deidara as he jumped out of the trees

"That bastard threw her off the cliff!!" he yelled as he quickly jumped off the cliff

"HE WHAT?! OY ZETSU TOBI, UN! GET OVER HERE, UN!" he yelled as Tobi and Zetsu quickly ran and jumped off the cliff as Deidara brought out a clay bird and hopped on it.

Kurai turned around just in time as Shikamaru threw several kunais at her. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM YOU ASHOLE!" Yelled Kisame as he threw Samehada at

Shikamaru who catched it and allthough it ripped the skin from his hands threw it at Kurai.

"DAMN IT!" she said, looking down. The ground was getting nearer by the second.

"SUITON BAKUSUI SHOUHA!!" Yelled Kisame and started filling the ground with water.

Kurai pushed herself upwards and kicked Shikamaru in the stomach hard. He coughed out some blood, but he narrowed his eyes and grabbed her by the neck just as they

splashed into the water. Kurai gasped and immediately started coughing, some of the water had entered her air canal and she was choking. But she grabbed Shikamaru's

hands and started trying to take them away from her neck. She needed air, and fast.

Kisame Zetsu and Tobi splashed in and a few seconds later 5 sharks were aiming for Shikamaru who let go of Kurai and swam furiously fast past her followed by the sharks.

Kurai resurfaced coughing water out furiously, but she barely had time to catch some air before Shikamaru pulled her back down. She kicked him, and at that same instant he

swam behind her as a shark exploded right in front of Kurai. The explosion knocked what little air she had in her lungs out, but at that second Zetsu grabbed her and quickly

pushed her upwards. Kurai gasped for air and on a second glance she saw Tobi fighting with Shikamaru. Zetsu surfaced too.

"Zetsu! Thank you so much!" she nearly cried

"No don't worry" This is what friends are about he said smiling, Kurai could barely resist the urge to hug him, instead she smiled and looked down.

"Tobi!" she took a big breath and swam down towards Tobi, just as Shikamaru was about to kick him. Kurai got there first grabbed his foot, and grinned evily. Kisame

was coming his way and he hadn't noticed. But just then Kakashi jumped in the water shoved Kurai off Shikamaru and quickly got out. Kisame looked like he could kill.

"That was so unexpected" said Kurai once they were safely upon the cliff. "Thanks for the ride up Deidara" she said

"No problem, un" he said smiling. "That was one heck of a fight, un"

"Totally" said Tobi

"That was not what I-" WE were expecting said Zetsu thoughtfully

"What were you expecting... and... wait a minute..." Kurai said her face reflecting blinding realization "YOU GUYS!" she said as her face turned red

"What? what!" asked Kisame confused

"Nothing, un" said Deidara casting a meaningful glance at Kurai, who instantly subdued

"Must have been my imagination" she said closing her eyes "let's go home. I'm gonna catch a cold in this wet suit" she said as she sprung up into a tree and started running

back to the Akatsuki, the guys however stayed back

"Oy Zetsu, what did she mean.. back there?" asked Kisame as they walked back

"I have-" we have no idea said Zetsu "sorry" meh

"I know you're behind this" said Kisame "and I'm going to find out" he said

But Tobi, Zetsu and Deidara just grinned mischeviously.

Kurai was drying her hair when they got back

"What the bloody hell happened to you people" asked Hidan when he saw them

"Underwater fight, un" answered Deidara

"Doesn't look like you were underwater pest" he said eyeing Deidara who was dry

"Obviously because he didn't participate" said Kisame sourly as Kurai entered the room

"Oy... you people were slow today" she said

"No real reason" said Tobi

"Okay, I'm going outside for a while" she said as she walked out into the garden "Those guys are planning something, and I think I know what it is... oh God if it is what I think

it is!" she said her eyes sparkling happily as she neared the river, sitting down under a tree sighing happily.

Kisame swept a look around the room and went outside too, he was confused. Something had happened and he knew that Tobi, Deidara and Zetsu were behind it.

"It's been a month..." he said looking up at the sky... "She always looks so happy when we go out on a mission..." For once, Kisame felt like something was where it belonged

maybe he was crazy, there were a lot of options for her... she was happy, and young and free to choose. Whereas he was... so much more different... He sighed remembering

Deidara's words -Looks like Itachi would be more popular with the ladies- But something interrupted his thoughts and the next thing he knew he was unconscious.

"Hello people" said Kurai as she entered the Akatsuki

"Oy Kurai... say, have you seen Kisame?" asked Tobi

"No... he's not here?" she asked consterned

"No. He went outside at almost the same time as you... but.. he's not back yet" he said

"What!?" she almost yelled

"Well... we can wait a bit more, un... but..."

"Deidara he's not back yet" and it's the most time he's been outside on a non mission said Zetsu

Kurai went pale and ran back outside, despite the calls from the guys she ran, she didn't know where she was going. Maybe she was just running to loosen up the tension.

"Damn it she's gone and done it" said Hidan

"Should we go?" asked Zetsu

"No, un." said Deidara knowingly

"KISAMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Yelled Kurai over and over again, "WHERE ARE YOU!!!! KISAMEEEE!!!!" She shrieked. Until her voice was hoarse and she had to stop.

"Okay... think. Think rationally... he... he may be here somewhere" she said as she rushd through the forest that separated the Akatsuki from the rest of the villages.

"Looking for something?" asked a voice near her

"Yes. I am. And who are you?" she asked in turn

"Meh, you don't recognize me?" said Shikamaru as he emerged from the shadow he was hiding in

"GODDAMN YOU WHERE'D YOU TAKE HIM!" she roared

"I wish I could tell you. But right this moment they may be killing him"

Kurai screamed like she had never screamed in her whole life. She ran straight at Shikamaru and at the last second jumped right into a tree and beyond him.

"KISAMEEEEEEE!!!!!" she yelled once more as she ran as fast as she could to anywhere that could show her the way. Until she slammed straight into something... or someone?

She gasped she was standing in front of Kakashi. And a little behind him was a kind of house with two jounin outside.

"You..." she roared almost like an animal

"You." he said calmly

"Give him back" she snarled. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"What are you? a rabid cat?" he asked

She threw herself at him not realizing what she was doing.

"He's the only guy I- ARRRGH I HATE YOU DAMN IT I HATE YOUUUU!!!" She screamed as she punched him over repeatedly

From the inside Kisame could hear her yells, and he looked up from where he was tied "Kurai..." he whispered. He realized how weak he was acting... how this was not the

Kisame he knew and was... But for some reason he couldn't help feeling that way...

"KAKASHI YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!" she yelled. And out of the blue Kakashi was bleeding. It was like all the blood from his body was leaving him. Trickling out his nose

and from his mouth

"What the..." Kakashi was getting paler by the second. Suddenly Kurai spoke in a voice that wasn't hers "there goes 80 percent of all the blood in your body Kakashi..."

The jounin at the door instantly sprung into action as Kakashi started falling. But just a movement from her hands and they were all on the floor.

Kurai ran and kicked down the door.

"Kisame!!" she ran to him and untied him. She was all covered in blood, not only hers but also blood from Kakashi.

"Kurai! what happened!?" he asked bewildered

"No time to explain I'm not even sure" she said blatantly, "we have to get you out of here!" she said as she put Kisame's arm over her shoulders

"Wait, Samehada!" he exclaimed

"I'll come back for her" she said as she ran, literally carrying Kisame to a clearing in the woods and then speeding off again

"She... it's like... what happened to her?" Kisame asked out loud confused, about 5 minutes later she was back with samehada

"Come on, let's run back" she said running between the trees, the blood on her glistening in the moonlight.

"What on earth happened to you!?" exclaimed Kakuzu as they got back to the Akatsuki "and where the hell were you Kisame?" asked Hidan

"Fight." said Kurai as she walked upstairs to avoid saying anything

"Kurai! what happened!?" asked Tobi as she walked past him in the hallway

"I'm not sure..." she said "I'm.. I think I'm going mad Tobi" she said slumping against a wall, the adrenaline of the fight rapidly leaving her

"You can't be going mad Kurai, you look as sane as ever to me... well.. as sane as you can look all covered in blood like that" he said

"Tobi... when I was fighting Kakashi... there was a point in which I blacked out and when I regained my senses, he and two more jounin were lying in pools of blood and I was

like I am now" she said burrying her face in her hands. Tobi was perplexed, he had never seen Kurai like she was right now.

"Tobi... I think I killed them" she said her voice breaking; Tobi walked over to her and moved her hands from her face, she was not crying but there were tears in her eyes

"Kurai... please don't feel bad about it..." he said softly "we have all killed someone at least once in our lives..." he explained. But it didn't have the effect he was expecting

"Tobi... you don't understand I... from where I come that's a sin!" she said as her gaze fell and she started shaking

"You did this for Kisame" he said softly

"Because.. because I..."

"You love him"

Kurai burst into tears. She couldn't take anymore. The day had started so good... she had not had to kill anyone... she couldn't understand what had happened. She was

confused and scared of herself.

Tobi hugged Kurai. He couldn't understand why she felt that way. But then again, she was a girl and Tobi hadn't met any other girl than Konan who was fierce and never

showed emotions.

"Kisame what happened, un?" asked Deidara

"I'm not sure.. I know that I was walking. Someone took me out and tied me up. Then all of a sudden I hear Kurai screaming something and then she helps me out and she's

all covered in blood and well then we get here" he said rather angry

"That's weird" very said Zetsu

"I don't know. I'm going upstairs" said Kisame as he exited the room

"Kurai please don't cry..." said Tobi as Kurai shuddered trying not to cry

"I'm... I'm trying but... It's so hard" she cried

Just the Kisame appeared at the start of the stairs. His look changing from concern to utter bewilderment at what he saw.

"Kurai what's wrong?!" he asked walking over to her, but she didn't answer.

"She believes she may have killed Kakashi and the two jounin" said Tobi looking at Kisame. He was also pretty much confused.

"But Kurai... that's not a bad thing" said Kisame. She continued to sob, but was a bit more subdued.

She stood up, her face covered by her hair "I'm sorry" she whispered and walked away

"Oy Kurai wait!" exclaimed Tobi, but Kisame held him.

"I think... she needs to be alone for a little"

Tobi looked up at Kisame, he looked sad.

"Are you sad Kisame-san?" asked Tobi

"Maybe" he said and walked over to his room.

Tobi stood alone in the hallway now. Perplexed but he understood what was going on. Kisame was sad that he couldn't help her. Kurai was sad because she couldn't

understand something...

Kurai walked outside and followed the path she knew to the river. All the way there the tears ran silently from her face... She looked like a vision come from hell in the moonlight

Kisame caught a glimpse of her through his window as she approached the river. He jumped from the window and followed the path till he was a few feet from the clearing

where he hid himself. He knew what he was doing was crazy but he felt like he had to talk to her.

Kurai took off her shoes and lightly skimmed the water with her foot... it was cold... "who cares..." she whispered as she started entering the river, still clothed. Like a vision

in the moonlight... And Kisame watched until only the back of her head was visible over the water, which had turned a reddish color from all the blood.

Kurai turned around in the water, it was extremely cold but she needed to feel a different kind of pain in order to subdue the one inside her.

She didn't know how long she stood inside the water, she just knew when she crawled out the cold night air stung her and she started shivering madly.

She wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to stay warm, but it was useless. Even the tears streaming from her eyes were cold.

"And I killed them" she whispered "I killed them" she continued to whisper.

Kisame was worried. Was she trying to kill herself? That water must have been as cold as Ice at this time! He watched till he couldn't bear it anymore. He dropped from the tree

but Kurai didn't seem to have noticed him.

"Kurai..."

She turned around very slowly and looked at him pale and cold as snow "Kisame..." she said, so very softly that if the night hadn't been in complete silence around him

he probably wouldn't have heard her. He walked slowly over to her "what happened?" he asked as softly as he could.

She looked up at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and said nothing...

"Kurai... please tell me..." he said trying to get to her "I... want to help you" he said taking her by the shoulders and looking straight into her eyes.

Kurai blinked and a couple of tears slid down her cheeks as she barely whispered "I love you"

Kisame's eyes widened he wasn't expecting that, he brought her closer to him and held her close, almost in a hug. And she just stayed there... enjoying the warm sensation...

"You're cold" he said as he took off his cloak and wrapped her in it, then as he lifted her to carry her he whispered in her ear "I love you too..." and with that Kurai fell into

a slumber.

"That's hipothermia" said Kakuzu as he retrieved the skin thermometer, "what happened to her?" he asked Kisame perplexed

"Went into the river"

"At this time of the night!?" he exclaimed

"Well so it seems Kakuzu" he said annoyed

"What happened over there?" he asked curiously

"Nothing of your interest" said Kisame as he lifted Kurai up and took her to Tobi's room. But to his surprise Tobi was allready asleep on his bed.

"You pest.. I knew you'd do that" Kisame said lifting an eyebrow

Tobi opened an eye and smiled, but behind his mask Kisame couldn't see that. Kisame closed the door and walked over to his room where he placed Kurai on his bed.

He felt like he was made of lead, he was overcome with happiness, he sat down on the floor as the sun came out. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Kurai.

Had he dreamt what happened? could it have all been just an illusion? He, Hoshigake Kisame, the guy who was so unpopular with the ladies had just heard right?

Kurai stirred under the covers "Kisame?" she asked as she sat up slowly

"yeah?"

"What just happened... was real?" she asked rubbing her head

"I think so..." he answered rather timidly.

"Wow... I can't believed I told you..." she said blushing

"It's okay Kurai... I also wanted to tell you but..."

"you didn't know how..." she finished

"Yeah..."

Kurai slid from the bed down to where Kisame was and hugged him tightly. She had always wished for this to happen, and it was happening. She was finally with him...

"I can't believe it's finally happened" she said in his ear as they snuggled together on the floor.

"How..."

"Long?"

"Yeah..."

"Quite a while... since before I got here"

"How did you really know us all?"

"I just know" she said laying her head on his chest

"How are you feeling?" he asked

"Cold... but better" she said reviving what had happened at the river

"I can't believe you stood so much time in the water"

"Sometimes... to avoid the pain in our hearts...it becomes necesary to feel the pain in our body" she said with a sigh

"True"

Right that moment Tobi slammed the door open followed by Hidan, Zetsu, Kakuzu and Deidara

"Kisame-san!! Kakuzu told us that-"

"What the-"

"Damn"

"Wow" WOW

Kurai lifted her head up sleepily

"Oh you guys..." she said

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Kisame

"Uh.. well Kakuzu told us that... well... we'll be going now..." he said as he closed the door and turned around to face the rest with a mischevious glint in his eyes,

and as ther all clapped their hands together only two words escaped their lips

"Mission Accomplished"


	3. Realizations

**Chapter3.**

**Realizations.**

Just then Pein entered the room

"What's this commotion about?"

Kurai literally jumped away from Kisame.

"I kinda... well... I had no idea the river was so cold so I went into the river last night" said Kurai looking at the floor

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" asked Pein calmly

"No I'm sorry I had no idea..." she said continuing to look at the floor

That didn't amuse Pein in the slightest, he approached her and grabbed her by the front of her shirt

"Having no idea is not an excuse. The next time you do such a stupidity I'll have you killed and fed to Zetsu" he said as he threw her away where she smashed into a

wardrobe.

"We're invading in two weeks. Any kind of idioticy like that one could get us killed. I don't give a damn what you do. I don't want ANY flaws in my plan. The price to pay is

high" he said as he walked out of the room.

For a while no one said anything, then Kisame stood up and walked over to the wardrobe

"Kurai?"

"I see lights" she said as she tried to get the weight of the wood off her. Kisame grabbed the biggest piece and threw it out the window "oy"

"Oh I see you now" she said removing some splinters from her arms and neck

"Are you okay?" asked Tobi inching closer

"Of course. I've been worse" she said standing up brushing off some dust

"Well then" what are we going to do now?

"Good point, un"

"I'm going to find out if I really killed those guys" said Kurai looking out the window

"What if you really killed the motherfuckers?" said Hidan. Kurai remained silent

"I don't know how I'll react till it happens" she said as she jumped out the window

"OY! COME BACK HERE!" yelled Kisame as he quickly grabbed samehada and jumped out after her closely followed by Zetsu, Tobi, Hidan and Kakuzu

Pein watched from the window as they ran

"This is not turning out the right way" he muttered as Konan entered the room

"I told you it wasn't the right thing"

"Shut up Konan" he said sourly "if this continues we're going to have to eliminate her" he said

"I can do that" she said smiling evily

"Not yet" he said as a disappointed Konan left the room. "Not quite yet..." he said narrowing his eyes.

Kurai ran as fast as she could. She remembered only too well the path that had taken her once to where Kisame had been.

"Somewhere around here.." she muttered as she took a sharp turn and almost slammed into a tree.

"Oy you be careful where you go!" said Kisame advancing up to her

"I'm trying to find out where I..." she stopped short and everyone slammed right into her and a streamline of swearwords were heard all around.

"Nice vocabulary we all have" she said as she stood up, scanning the place "It was here..." she said as she bent down to examine the dry blood that still covered the floor.

"I can't remember what happened... but I'm sure it was me..." she said with an expression that indicated deep concentration

"I don't think you killed them..." mumbled Tobi

"Why?"

"Look" footprints said Zetsu pointing them out

"In fucking blood"

"Then.. surely they must be somewhere!" said Kurai as she followed the footprints

"Eh... I don't think that's a good idea, un" said Deidara

"Why?"

"They are our enemies Kurai. You usually don't give a damn about them" said Kakuzu

"But..." she looked back at the footprints

"Look, you know you didn't kill them at least" said Kisame putting a hand on her shoulder, Kurai looked up

"Oh you guys are right. I'm acting silly" she said smiling "come one, let's go back before Pein notices that-"

"you're not where you're all supposed to be?" he asked coming out of a shadow. Kurai gasped and took a step backward

"You!" he said as he pointed at the guys "go directly to your missions..NOW!" he yelled angrily "and you.." he said as he grabbed Kurai's wrist "You're coming with me"

he said as he literally dragged her. Kurai looked back once, no one seemed to be there, but between the trees she thought she had seen something flash...

Pein threw her against the wall "What the hell do you think you are doing?" he asked

"I just wanted to see if I had killed those guys from Konoha" she said as she stood up. Pein was not looking happy at all

"just wanted to see if you had killed them?! are you fucking crazy?! what kind of lame excuse is that?!" he literally yelled

"It's the truth!" she said "I didn't want to kill them in the first place" she said

"You didn't want to kill them?! I have never heard such a stupidity" he exclaimed "I will not tolerate that kind of behaviour here. Remember your place. You are our information

provider, and allthough you do go on missions you have absolutely no right to be dragging others around when they're supposed to be doing other things" he said with a

calmed fury "Now leave before I end up killing you" he said as he turned his back on her.

Kurai wasted no time in leaving the room and no sooner was she out that she walked out to the garden and started punching the trees "Lame excuse..." she said punching

yet once more another tree furiously making a dent in it.

"You're fierce" very said Zetsu coming out behind a bush

"Yeah well I'm pissed off" she said slumping down against a tree "aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" she asked

"I seldomly go on missions" I wish I went out more he said sitting next to her

"Well I'm glad you don't have anything to do... Pein would kill me if he saw me here talking to you and you were supposed to be somewhere else" she said dryly

"That's what he told you?" sounds like something he'd do

"Of course he told me that. I guess I have to 'stand my place' as he said"

"That should be easy" you just have to do whatever he says

"Yes I know but it's so annoying to be here all day and not do anything..." she said "how can you stay here all day and not do anything" she asked Zetsu curiously

"Well I'm really never in the mood to do stuff" I just stay here and think

"You could say you meditate" she said thoughtfully "Still... I'm not like all of you Zetsu" she explained "I'm... well I'm more attached to people than you guys may be, for instance

you can kill someone and not worry about it, however I can't just kill someone... Zetsu do you know what it is to end a life?... to end someone's thoughts ideas. They stop

existing when you kill someone" she said looking up at the sky

"Kurai no one dies forever" Sometimes it has to be done he said

"You could say it so... But what really confuses me is what happened. I can't understand how I could black out and then come back to my senses and have 3 ninjas nearly

dead at my feet" she said trying to concentrate

"That's confusing" but you could work it out he said as a couple of droplets fell from the sky

"I'll think about it later... It makes my head ache... I wonder if Kisame is allright..."

"He'll be" you should know that he said with a smile

"I guess"

"Kurai what really happened at the river?" asked Zetsu after a while, the rain pouriong down on them

Kurai turned to look at Zetsu, "well... I really felt like I could have killed myself" she said

"You told him" didn't you?

"That I loved him? yes" she said a pinkish glow settling on her face "I had to.. I never even dreamed of meeting him... but I always liked him so much" she said as she

remembered the days when she'd watch him on TV or in a cosplay and dream of meeting him...

"And it's come true for you" he said What does it feel like?

"love?"

Zetsu nodded

"It's... the most wonderful thing in the world.. you can't stop thinking about someone... you feel warm and tingly when you see them.. even when you think about them...

You feel like everything is complete, like nothing is missing and like if that person was harmed you could die" she said smiling tenderly

"Sounds wonderful" like something unknown

"One day you'll fall in love Zetsu, you'll see" she said as she stood up and walked back, the rain pouring down on her

"Maybe" Maybe...

Kurai walked back inside and walked up to Kisame's room, she dragged a chair and dedicated the rest of the evening to look out the window.

A while after the door creaked open and Kisame walked in "Kurai..."

"hmm?"

"Zetsu told me what happened with Pein"

"Oh well... now you know" she said as she turned around. Kisame walked over to her

"You're okay?"

"Of course I am Kisame" she said softly as she stood up and faced the window again. Kisame held her close by the shoulders

"This means I have to stay here more often that I used to.. doesn't it?" she said quite sadly

"I guess it does" he said bending down so his face was ner hers "But you're still my partner" he said. "So any mission I get.."

"I get to go too" she said smiling and moving her face to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Kisame smiled

"Come on it's late..."

The next morning dawned grey and rainy. Kurai raised her binoculars to get a closer glimpse of the place they were all supposed to attack.

"Oy, you see anything?" asked Kakuzu

"Yeah, heavily guarded. Stupid Shikamaru is there too" she said

"Goddamned Kid" said Hidan squinting at the place

"We've got to wait till Kisame and zetsu adjust their signals"

"Oy, you people hear us?" sounded the voice of Kisame through their earpieces as they all answered

"Yes"

"Okay you know what to do. Assume your positions" said Kakuzu as they all crouched like cats ready to jump upon their prey, and almost at the same instant they all

disappeared in different directions.

"You're all mine now Shikamaru" whispered Kurai as she appeared a few centimeters away from him

"Kurai what are you talking about?" asked Tobi through his earpiece

"Shhh!!"

"Okay okay!"

Kurai sneaked up behind him and as quickly as she could covered his mouth and put both of his hands behind his back. He resisted but she didn't loose her grip

"So what's up?" she asked evily as she jumped taking him with her. He bit her hand but she didn't move it. Instead she smiled

"You really think you can just bite my hand and I'll withdraw it?" she said as they neared the clearing before akatsuki where Zetsu and Kisame were waiting for her

"Hey that was pretty quick" he said grinning

"Thank you dear" she said as she threw Shikamaru on the ground

"You bastards!" he said spiting on the ground "What the hell are you trying to do?!" he asked furiously

"Nothing of your interest" trust me nothing... said Zetsu narrowing his eyes

"You just tie him up and keep him somewhere I'm going to get the others" said Kurai as she jumped out of sight

"You can still hear us Kurai?" asked Kisame

"Yeap" she said as she neared the new destination "If I catch all the guys Pein asked me to, do you think I'll be all good with him again?" she asked crouching for a moment

"Maybe" you can never know answered Zetsu; Kurai could hear muffled yells from the earpiece. Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara and Tobi seemed to be doing really good

"Yeah but they won't win, I'll bring down more" she said jumping over the back of a rooftop "There you are..." she said as Kakashi came into view "what the... He's reading...

oh that's disgusting" she said grimacing. She jumped upon him and seized him by the neck, to which action he disappeared

"Oh crap" she muttered before running in the exact oposite direction. One quick glance behind and she knew Kakashi was on her heels

"Oh hey! I didn't Kill him!!!" she exclaimed happily

"What.. Kurai what the fuck are you talking about?" asked Hidan through the earpiece

"I didn't Kill Kakashi he's... OH SHIT!" she exclaimed as Kakashi tackled her and ripped away her earpiece

"Kurai? Kurai! KURAI!!" yelled Tobi through his earpiece

"We lost connection" said Kakuzu

"Damn!" she said as she kicked Kakashi in the chest hard "Get off!" she said quickly jumping onto a tree branch

"You..." said Kakashi narrowing his eyes as he lifted his ninja plate off his Sharingan eye "I don't know what Jutsu you did back then" he said "But I'm going to find out"

he said as he charged towards her

"I don't think that even was a jutsu" she whispered as she jumped above him and threw a couple of kunais at him, which he avoided

"You think some kunai's are enough to stop me?" he said narrowing his eyes

"Well obviously so it seemed" she said quickly running towards him and punching him, he almost avoided it, and proceeded to crouch and swing his leg to make Kurai trip

but she jumped over him and kicked him in the back of the neck, he fell straightforward then jumped and punched her in the stomach. Kurai grasped her stomach as she took

a couple of steps back, Kakashi quickly appeared behind her and kicked her in the back, to which effect Kurai jumped and instead he kicked her legs, she used the impulse

to fip in mid air and kick Kakashi in the face then she jumped back onto a branch. A prickling in her hand made her examine it closer and she realized where Shikamaru

had bitten her there was now a greenish mark. Kakashi used this distraction to quickly grab her arm and punch her elbow in. Kurai yelled in pain as a sickening snap was

heard.

Zetsu raised his head "oy... you heard that?" I did he asked

"They're near" said Kakuzu as he peered over in her direction. Kisame jumped up and followed the sound. He wanted to yell Kurai's name but that would blow away his cover

Kurai's arm now hung limp at her side. Useless. But Kurai was not going to let Kakashi get away as easily. She used her other hand to do a cartwheel then jump

and she landed kicking Kakashi twice on the head. He winced and stumbled backwards. Kisame quickly appeared behind him

"You usually don't harm ladies" he said flashing his teeth evily as he tied him up. Kakashi looked like he could kill and hung his head in resignation.

"I'm glad I didn't kill him" said Kurai clutching her arm steady as they walked back to the clearing where there were over a dozen ninjas tied up.

"Wow you guys took out so many!" she said her eyes widening at the sight

"No fucking deal" said Hidan who was leaning casually against a tree "say, what the hell happened to your arm?" he asked

"Oh nothing, Kakashi kinda snapped it" she said wincing a bit "Ah and Shikamaru had some kind of poison in his mouth when he bit my hand" she said showing them the

palm of her hand which was now turning grey "Oh... it was green when I last saw..." she said confused

"Let Kakuzu check that" said Kisame as he threw Kakashi next to Ino and Shikamaru

Kurai walked over to Kakuzu "what do you think it is?" she asked

"Poison of some sort, that's obvious" he said bringing out a bottle with some clear liquid "This could hurt" he said as he dipped some bandages in it and placed them on her

hand. It stung but it wasn't so bad

"Oh it's like alcohol" she said as Kakuzu finished bandaging her palm

"Actually it is distilled alcohol... how'd you know?" he asked

"There's a lot from where I come" she said smiling as Kakuzu inspected her arm

"I can snap it back in place" he said taking hold of Kurai's wrist

"Go ahead" she said bracing herself as Kakuzu pulled her arm hard snapping it back. Kurai writhed and clapped a hand to her mouth as she closed her eyes in a silent scream

"Holy crap" she gasped as Kakuzu let go and bandaged her elbow "Never... do that again" she said when he had finished

"Heh I hope I don't have to. Not a nice sensation." he said.

"I couldn't agree any more Kakuzu" she said ironically, Hidan and Deidara grinned

"These all?" she asked looking around

"Looks like it" said Kisame picking up Ino and Chouji

"Okay, un" said Deidara as he picked up Hinata and an unknown Jounin

"Off to the base then" said Kakuzu grabbing Ebisu and another unknown Jounin

Kurai sighed and as she grabbed Shikamaru he narrowed his eyes, Kurai neared her face inches from his "You are a lowly earth roaming creature" she whispered in an

evil voice. Then she took hold of Kakashi's jacket and dragged the two of them back to the base. Along with each of the other Akatsuki members, each bearing 2 or 3 ninjas

It was at that moment, when they were all walking together that Kurai realized... How they all were just friends looking out for each other, just doing what they were told,

some recruited by force... some came to them, some recruited willingly...

They weren't so different from the so called 'good guys' they were allmost exactly the same... they just had different goals... This was a big realization for Kurai because

they were her family now. She had left her life.. a normal family, to come, unwillingly at the beggining, to this strange place, but it was as though they had all been waiting

for something like this... Something to change their lives a bit. And she realized she was the spark that showed most of them a bit of what love meant. She was like a little

sister to them all. And she loved having 6 big brothers because allthough they never had pillow fights, they never ate together, and they never went to the same places

together. They were allways there when she needed them. And she knew she had found her place, she looked up smiling as the wind moved her hair gently.

"Kurai? you look infernally happy" said Hidan concerned

"I just realized something... but I'll tell you when we've dropped off these people" she said as they neared Akatsuki

A while later they had secured all of the ninjas in an underground room and reported to Pein

"Ne Kurai what did you want to tell us?" asked Tobi, they were all dispersed around the main room. Hidan leaning against a wall, Zetsu half stuck in the floor, Deidara on top

of a cabinet, Tobi sitting on the floor, Kakuzu standing near a corner and Kisame sitting on an armchair

"Well... when we were walking back home I kinda realized how you guys... well you're like a family to me" she said looking at the floor they smiled

"Kurai you have to stop looking at the floor, un" said Deidara

Kurai looked up and around the room smiling, then she sat down "I never expected to come here and find a place where I finally belong" she said "you're like... brothers to me"

she said admittedly, Kisame walked over to her and hugged her

"Oh well not you Kisame" she said blushing and a mayor "Oooooooooo" was heard from the guys as Kurai laughed happily

Down at the underground room however a plot was rising

"Shikamaru try to get near me so I can undo the knots that tie you, then you can undo the rest" said Kakashi as Shikamaru crept with difficulty towards him, once free Shikamaru

quickly proceeded to undo everyone

"Now we wait" said Kakashi

"For what?" asked Chouji "I'm hungry!"

"Patience Chouji I have an idea" said Kakashi as he neared the door

"What are we going to do Kakashi-sensei?" asked Ino

"We're going to take that girl away, she's clearly the one thing with which we can gamble the defense of Konoha" said Kakashi

"That's brilliant!" said Ebisu as they all neared the door

"Okay before you go, use a transformation jutsu to transform into someone from the organization in case you get caught" he said as he transformed into Hidan

"I hate this" said Ino

"It's for Konoha's sake Ino" said Shikamaru as they all exited the door and crept through different passageways, as they searched through the rooms there was not a notice

of where Kurai could be

"You really think of us as your brothers?" asked Kisame as Kurai changed inside the new wardrobe

"Of course I do Kisame... except you of course" she said as she came out and jumped on the bed allmost making Kisame fall off

"Oy! be careful!" he said gripping the edge of the bed

"Sorry" she said playfully as she hugged him

"You treat me like I'm a stuffed toy" he said dryly

Kurai looked up with puppy eyes

"And... you can't be?" she asked

"Meh you're like a litle girl at this time of the night" he said as he hugged her back and turned off the light "now go to sleep"

"No"

"Just... Sleep" he said as he fell asleep. Kurai frowned but she knew Kisame was bound to be tired. It had been a long day after all, as she drifted off to sleep she thought

she had heard something out in the hallway, but maybe it was just Tobi sneaking around. She yawned and walked over to the window, suddenly she wasn't tired at all

looking out the window into the beautiful night she heard the door creak open, but when she turned around no one was there so she walked over and peered into the hallway;

what a mistake to have done. Kakashi quickly seized her and ran off, passing Kakuzu in the hallway

"OY! WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelled as he ran after them, doors started opening behind them

"What the fuck?!"

"What's going on, un?"

"THEY'RE ESCAPING!" yelled Kakuzu as all the others quickly started runing after them

Kakashi had his hand around Kurai's mouth but her eyes were wide as plates as she kept trying to get his hands loose. Tobi burst down Kisame's door

"Kisame! wake up!"

"Tobi this better be good.." he mumbled still half asleep

"Notice anything missing?" he asked hurriedly

Kisame looked around

"No... I... Where is... Oh crap!" he exclaimed as he jumped out of the bed and ran outside, for a moment the hallway was deserted but all of a sudden it was as though

clones of everyone were springing from the ground. Kakashi's plan was working out, the distraction being created by the cloned ninjas was working and Kakashi was

well away from the akatsuki when he finally let go of Kurai's mouth

"What the hell have you done!?" she shrieked

"Something brilliant no doubt" he replied.


	4. The Unthinkable

**Chapter 4**

**The Unthinkable.**

"You think you can just take me away and expect exactly what?!" she asked while Kakashi tied her hands behind her back firmly "OW! hey! no need to be so harsh!" she

said

"I'll be as harsh ad I'd like" he said "after all, you were no lady when we fought" he finished

"Yeah well, what exactly were you expecting?" she asked angrily

"Nothing at all" he replied as he walked out the door and locked it from the outside

Kurai sighed

"Stupid Karma" she said looking around, it was just a plain grey room, no windows and only the door Kakashi had just locked "if only there were something interesting

to look at..." she thought as she stood up and walked around a bit awkwardly due to her hands being tied

Someone opened the door cautiously and a woman and Shikamaru entered, Kurai peered curiously in their direction

"You're trying to tell me this... toothpick is what caused that damage?" asked the woman walking over to her "you! gimme your name" she exclaimed

"Roura Kurai" she said dryly

"You don't speak in that tone to the Hokage" said Shikamaru

"Yeah well, she's not my mother" said Kurai closing her eyes with her eyebrows raised

"Could as well be" said the Hokage as she noticed how they were not too different, same attitude, blondes with hazel eyes, allmost the same body complexion

"And you say she's the new member of the Akatsuki?" she asked Shikamaru

"Yes Tsunade-sama" he said

"I still can't believe she did such a thing" she said as she grabbed Kurai by the chin and looked at her intently. Kurai just stared back angrily

After a while Tsunade released her

"What exactly did you have planned Kakashi?" she asked him, that's when Kurai noticed Kakashi had never really left the room, her eyes widened in surprise

"We can gamble Konoha's safety with her in our hands" he said putting away the book he was reading "If they were to really invade and destroy Konoha to capture the

Jinchuuriki then we can use her as hostage, they wouldn't want to loose a member would they?" he said

"They wouldn't mind loosing me" she said seriously, they all turned their gaze upon her

"what do you mean?" asked Shikamaru

"I am only their information provider, I am not supposed to be of any importance to the organization" she said looking at the floor "Allthough they really became a lot more than

comrades to me, well, I'm not really something you can gamble Konoha's safety over" she said looking at a point in the wall oposite her, frowning

"what the... Kakashi you've brought us a useless target" said Tsunade

"She's not useless" said Shikamaru "You're lying Kurai, you know perfectly well that you are more than an information provider" he said raising an eyebrow "if you had been

just that, then you wouldn't have gone on a mission with them"

"I had to go because they were short on people" she said frowning "trust me, the leader won't give a damn" she said

"We'll see that in a few hourse" she said "Kakashi you keep your eyes on her"

Kakashi nodded and retreated to the shadows as Tsunade left, Shikamaru cast a quick glance back at her and then left.

Back at the Akatsuki the chaos had subdued

"You all know what this means" Pein said angrily his back to the rest of the organization

"We're invading right now?" asked Tobi cautiously

"No. It means we're going to have to use her as a last weapon" he said to the surprise of everyone

"What do you mean?!" asked Kisame

Pein turned around with a tiny pill in his hands "This" he said "is a trigger. When I activate this, Ketsueki-kijo will be released and that is what's going to happen" he said

smiling evily at the looks of surprise all around, no one moved for a while

"You're dissmissed. I'll activate this at sundown" he said "don't even think of going over there" he warned them before they left

As they walked out into the hallway there was a kind of tension that could be cut with a kunai

"What are we going to do?" asked Tobi

"You're the real leader of this all" said Kisame grasping Tobi by the front of the shirt

"You can put a stop to this, un" said Deidara

"Damn" said Hidan punching the wall "This fucking sucks" he said

"I agree" If you can do something about this... said Zetsu

"Tobi do something" said Kisame "You know what will happen when he releases that trigger!" he exclaimed

"I know!! Jeez let me think!" he said "Okay this is what we'll do. We're going to try and find where she is. But if by sundown we haven't found her then we can't help it"

he said after a while

"What do you mean we can't help it! you mean you're just going to let her die!?" asked Kisame furiously

"That's so unlikely of you Tobi, un" said Deidara consterned

"We can't do anything about it. Think, what if we bring her back. Surely Pein will still kill her anyway" he said "I'm not happy with the idea either but it's the most we can do"

he said, they nodded and quickly ran outside

"I told you they'd go anyway" said Konan from the window

"I know but they won't find her" said Pein grinning

"How do you know?"

"Because even if they do I'll still activate it at sundown like I said" he said while Konan smiled evily.

Kurai peered over at the shadow where Kakashi was hidden, if she narrowed her eyes she could just barely see his outline

"Say Kakashi, what's 'Come Come Paradise' about?" she asked moving her head to one side

"How do you know that's what I'm reading?" he asked calmly

"Well I know you're a fan of 'That Kind' of books" she said

Kakashi was taken aback "what do you mean 'That Kind'?" he asked

"You know looots and lots of romance" she said raising an eyebrow. Kakashi grimaced

"You are evil" he said as he continued reading

"I'm not, I just happen to know your bad habits" she said turning her back on him "couldn't you people at least put a window here?" she asked looking at the empty wall

trying to imagine there was a window

"No" he said "now shut up I'm trying to read"

"meh" she said as she sat back down "what time do you think it is outside?" she asked

"I don't know, now let me read!" he exclaimed angrily

"Okay okay..." she said resigned "One... two... three... four... five..."

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked confused

"I'm going to count until I get out" she said "eighteen.. nineteen..."

Kakashi sighed, it was going to be a long wait...

"Any sign of her?" asked Kisame through his earpiece, they were all roaming around the village, it was allmost noon and the time was ticking away

"No"

"Hell no"

"Nothing! yet

"Haven't seen anything, un"

"Damn it" said Kisame rushing around as fast as he could without being caught "where are you Kurai?" he murmured, even though he knew there would be no answer...

"Oy, time for you to come with us, it's allmost sundown" said Tsunade as she entered back in

Kurai stood up and followed her outside

"I keep telling you I don't think they'll do what you're saying they will" she said

"Wrong, we've allready seen two akatsuki members around the village" grinned Tsunade. Kurai's eyes widened

"Oh crap" she mumbled as she passed through countless hallways untill the light's from outside could be seen

"Hey I see her, un" said Deidara into his earpiece hidden on a rooftop

"What?! where!" asked Kisame stoping abruptly

"They're walking her to the mountain, un" he said as he followed them

"Everyone! to the mountain!" Tobi's voice was heard through the earpieces

Kurai looked to her left and for a moment she thought she had seen someone vaguely familiar

"What are you staring at?" asked Shikamaru looking in the same direction

"The sky, it's pretty" she said. Shikamaru rolled his eyes "meh"

Kurai couldn't help but gasp at the view

"Wow... I had no idea the sunset would look so beautiful from..." Kurai stopped short

"from here?" asked Shikamaru, but Kurai's eyes were wide her pupils were dilated as she started stumbling backwards

"What? are you afraid of heights?" asked Kakashi behind her

Kurai closed her eyes in pain as she fell kneeling on the ground

"What the..." Shikamaru backed away and so did Kakashi as Kurai's hair started flowing as though there were a strong breeze

"run..." she said in a low gutural voice "now..." she said as her hands broke loose from her binds and her body started covering itself in a weird kind of pattern

Kisame and the rest of the guys looked up, something up there was going wrong

"Damn it! we're late!" he yelled as he ran faster

Kurai screamed just as her eyes re opened they were blood red and she grinned evily as her body finished covering itself in the pattern. All of a sudden Shikamaru,

Tsunade, and Kakashi were bleeding

"RUN!" yelled Kakashi as Shikamaru stumbled forwards and Tsunade instantly jumped out of the way

"That's what you meant!" she yelled as they ran away from Kurai trying to cover up the bleeding

"Obviously" he said

Kisame and the rest didn't even care if they were seen anymore they jumped up to the top of the mountain. Ketsueki-kijo's head swirled around and faced them with her evil grin

"Kurai!" yelled Kisame advancing but Kakuzu held him

"Don't get closer, she'll take the blood out of you" he said

"I can do this crap" said Hidan "After all, I'm fucking immortal" he said revealing his black and white body and advancing forward

Ketsueki-kijo narrowed her eyes and moved her hands in an effort to bring out the blood from Hidan's body, but there was no blood coming out. She frowned and moved towards

him

"You can't harm me you idiot" he said taking out his scythe

"What are you going to do, un?" asked Deidara from above

"End it"

"What?!"

"End Ketsueki-kijo, not Kurai you fucking dimmwits" he said annoyed as he charged towards her and slashed at her with his scythe

Ketsueki-kijo swiftly moved out of the way grinning, but Hidan knew better and threw his scythe at her, it hit her in the back and tiny droplets of blood oozed out of the wound as

Ketsueki-kijo stumbled forwards

"It's... it?" wondered Tobi aloud

"You don't understand Tobi" said Kakuzu "Ketsueki-kijo looks harmless next to Hidan because he is immortal, but to normal people, even regular demons she is a terror

inspiring thing. Just standing too close is enough to kill you" he said as Hidan walked over and retrieved his scythe from her back

The marks on her body started to receed as more blood spilled from the wound

"eh.. I think we can go to her now" pretty much said Zetsu as he walked towards Kurai who started to get up

"Guys? what happened?" she asked sitting up and wincing "ow... how did I get this?" she wondered out loud as she placed a hand on her back

"I don't think you want to know, un" said Deidara eyeing Hidan

"oh I think I do want to know" she said stubbornly as Zetsu helped her up

"Well let's say... you are a terrifying thing" said Kisame smiling

"I am?" she looked down, her nightgown was all covered in blood "I don't even look terrifying" she said

"Because you didn't see yourself" said Kakuzu

"Lets just get the bloody hell out of here" said Hidan looking down, dozens of ninjas were headed in their direction

Zetsu picked up Kurai and they ran towards the Akatsuki

"You may have gotten away this time Kurai..." said Shikamaru "But there won't be a second time" he said narrowing his eyes as he watched them run into the forest and

disappear

"Guys... really what happened?" she asked as Kakuzu sowed her cut shut

"Well... so it seems you have a Ketsueki-kijo" said Tobi

"A whuh?-yeow!" she cried

"Blood demon" said Zetsu

"Oh okay... WHAT?!" she yelled

"Okay first up, un. Shut up, un. We don't want more problems with Pein than those we might be having allready, un" said Deidara

"Okay you're right, sorry" she said as Kakuzu finished and handed her a robe which she put on "I have a blood demon?" she asked "then... what happened with Kakashi"

"Yeah, that was you" said Kisame

"How did you manage to.. controll it?" she asked

"I'm God" said Hidan proudly

"Oh okay, so God? Will I marry Kisame?" she asked ironically, Hidan frowned

"Now listen to me you little idiot. There's nothing that can kill me. So not even your Ketsueki-kijo could harm me. I just had to get a hold on her and that's all" he said

"Wow... longest line without swears I've ever heard from you Hidan" I agree said Zetsu

"True, un" said Deidara

"Oh I see..." she said "Thank you Hidan!!" she said smiling "I hope it's gone forever now" she said thoughtfully

"I don't think it'll be gone forever" said Kisame "But definetely for a while"

"you're right" said Kakuzu as Pein entered the room

"I see you have not only survived but dragged the whole organization towards you" he said narrowing his eyes "I believe I told you all not to go?" he asked ironically. No one

dared say anything, Kurai looked at the floor for a while, but seemed to think better of it and looked at Pein directly in the eyes

"I think-"

"No! you do not think here! you do as I have asked you to!" yelled Pein seizing her by the neck "Allthough of great value, whatever information you could give us that was

usefull has allready been used" he literally growled, the tension in the room seemed to mount almost instantly as tiny drops of blood started falling to the floor from Kurai's

wound, it had opened back up. Pein continued as he grasped Kurai's neck tighter "You have no right to play with the lives of the people in this organization, no right to come

here and drag them over to you because you got into a problem, you should have been able to get out of it alone" he said making his grip tighter, Kurai went from pale to slightly

red "you have tonight to leave this place, and you all" he said as he swept his gaze across the room "You have new orders. Orders that are to be executed. If you find this

girl outside she is our Enemy" he said enfasizing the word Enemy "To be Killed" he said as he flung Kurai across the room, where Kisame caught her as she gasped for air.

Pein swept one last look around and left the room, Kisame hugged Kurai

"Kurai I-"

But kurai pushed him away softly before she too left the room without a word.

"Shit" mumbled Hidan

"This was bound to happen, un" said Deidara. Everyone glared at him "Okay sorry, un" he said "But even Tobi had warned us about it, un" he said looking over at Tobi who,

for once looked as though in deep thinking

"You do realize that wound is unsown right" said Kakuzu staring at the little blood droplets that still glistened on the floor...

Kurai walked slowly up to Kisame's room and hung the akatsuki coat as she changed back into her black sweater and jeans. She quickly fashiond her hair into a ponytail

and rolled the sleeves of her jacket up. She looked once around the room and couldn't restrain a few tears, after all she had feelings, then she jumped on the windowsill

and stood there for a while switching the views between the room and the night outside. The door opened as Kisame walked in, but the last thing he caught was but a slight

glimpse of Kurai's hair, and as she ran into that abyss we call night, the rest of the guys entered the room

"She's..."

But no one seemed to want to finish that sentence.

Kurai ran like she hadn't run in ages, ignoring the stabbing pains in the back she continued to run till she tripped over an uprooted tree and just lay there facedown, the tears

flowing freely from her eyes into the ground, the blood in her back creating a glistening black stain in her sweater. But she couldn't care less, she just waned to lay there

until she bled to death, just stay there and bleed herself dry. Everything she had ever dreamed of had suddenly turned into a nightmare... maybe if she died she could wake up

and everything would be as boring as it had always been supposed to be... Her sobs echoed in the distance, as a figure slowly advanced towards her

"Hey! what are you doing here at this time of the night?!"

Kurai lifted her head up, a boy in an orange suit with blonde hair was looking at her intently

"Are you going to answer?" he demanded

"I'm... trying to die" she said as the boy's eyes widened

"why?"

"Because I want to"

"But you don't look like someone who deserves to die"

"I never said I deserved it"

"But then why?" he said sitting cross legged in front of her wondering

Kurai sat up with a bit of difficulty

"I used to be from Akatsuki" she said

The boy stood up and backed away from her "So that's why" he said "You're that girl who allmost killed Kakashi-sensei!" he said angrily

Kurai nodded "I am... thanks God I did not" she said looking at the floor

"You mean you didn't want to?"

"No... I don't like to kill people" she said rubbing her eyes

"Then why did you allmost kill him?"

"I didn't know I had a Ketsueki-kijo at that time" she said frowning

"You have a blood demon?" he asked amazed

"Yes... not proud of it" she said leaning against a tree

"oh! I haven't introduced myself! Uzumaki Naruto! the boy who will one day become Hokage!" he said proudly

"I know that" she said smiling "just so you know, you actually will be" she said "I'm Kurai Roura Fujimura" she said

"Ooooh!! that's a nice name" he said, but at that moment dawn started breaking "Darn I have to get back. Sayonara Kurai-chan!!" he said as he ran away

Kurai sighed and coughed a little as the sun lifted itself up above the trees. She decided she had to keep moving or she would be found eventually by someone and really be

killed, but she found out when she tried to stand up that the more she moved the worser the pain in her back. She stood still for a moment closing her eyes

"I don't deserve to suffer in this way... I never did any wrong" she said out loud "It is not my fault to be who I am... not my fault to love him... to love them" she said shuddering

a bit before concentrating really hard and running away from that spot, the only thing that remained a clue that she had been there were the numerous blood marks on

the ground and against the tree.

No one said a word as they parted, each group in a different direction. No one thought of anything else. Except what Tobi had done the previous night.

"There's something I can do now" he had said seriously after what had seemed like an eternity

"What will you do?" asked Kisame, his face somber

"The unthinkable" he said as he exited the room

A long hours wait where the only conversation was the silence that rung between them, and Tobi re entered the room

"The akatsuki is now disbanded" he said

It was instant rampage

"What?! you mean we can go where we please, un?!" said Deidara

"No. I mean now WE are the new Akatsuki" said Tobi quite seriously

"What about Konan, un?" asked Deidara

"She decided she would rather go with Pein" he said "But I know what they're planning" he continued "so tommorrow at the break of down we're all leaving and you know

what we're going to do first correct?"

"Find her" said Kisame with fury in his eyes

"Hell yeah" said Hidan grasping his scythe

"Sounds nice, un"

"Finally" We set out at the break of down correct? asked Zetsu

"Yeah" said Kakuzu

And so there were they now, running in different directions, wondering how far had she gone.

The thing was... she was indeed far enough...

-I have to keep running...- she thought as she run through some trees -I would rather die suffocated than die at their hands- she thought as the pain in her back seared

once more, and she ran for a good while before she actually stopped.

"This is it" she whispered "I can't run anymore" she said "I don't want to run anymore... I just want to..." but she never finished that sentence, for her mind shut down

unwilling to keep working from all the strain it had been put through. She fell forwards over a tree trunk and knew of nothing else...

Several days went by and no one had yet found Kurai

"Do you think she-"

"Don't even think of it!" growled Kisame

"But it's been 3 days allready...today's the 4th day..." said Kakuzu

"We can always assume she ran far far away, un" said Deidara

"You haven't seen anything from up there?" asked Tobi

"Nothing, un. I thought I had seen her in Konoha, un. But that was just that Tsunade lady, un" he said thinking

"She really can't have gone so far" said Kakuzu "she had an open wound" he said

"Right. That isn't helping" said Kisame

"There's some blood here" and it looks fresh if you ask me said Zetsu as he examined some blood on the ground "maybe if we look closer" there's some more over there

he said following the trail

"Damn finally!" said Hidan as they followed Zetsu through a path in the forest that wasn't as used, nor as common to the people since it was wild and hard to pass through.

But the day passed and at sundown they were still following small specs of blood

"At this rate she would have bled to-" but Kakuzu stopped at Kisame's look

"I don't think so" said Hidan as the night crept over like a spider over the sun

"Let's stop here for today" said Tobi

"But.."

"No Kisame, I understand that it's important for you but it'll be no use if we're as exhausted as her" he said

"for the first time Tobi. You're right" he said grinning as they all retreated into the shadows

The morning of the 5th day dawned bright

"Damn this fucking brightness" muttered Hidan shielding his eyes from the sun

"I agree" damn right said Zetsu closing his leaves a bit "that's better! a lot he said

"Good day!" said Tobi animatedly

"Just like the Tobi we all know, un" said Deidara

"Well then, let us continue" said Kisame hoisting Samehada upon his shoulders as they continued to follow the trail, and for a good 2 hours no one said anything until

"OY! I SEE HER, UN!" exclaimed Deidara "Just ahead, un!!" he said as he rushed forward along with the rest. They came to something that resembled a clearing, except there

were torn down trees everywhere and somwhere ahead there was a figure that strangely resembled

"Kurai!!" yelled Kisame as he ripped away the trees in their way

"You know from here she looks..." Awfully still... said Zetsu as they approached her

Kisame got there first "what the... Kakuzu get over here quick!" he said

Kakuzu bent down and Turned Kurai around. She was totally limp and paler than paper

"I think this may have something to do with the wound" He said as he tried to remove the sweater, but, it turned out, the sweater was stuck to the wound and the skin around it

had turned an awful color

"Holy Crap" said Hidan as he took a step backwards

"That's pretty disgusting, un" said Deidara

"What happened there?" asked Tobi as he neared them

"Well... this isn't going to be pretty at all" said Kakuzu as he took out a kunai and ripped the sweater away from the wound, exposing it. Even Kisame took a step

backwards

"Hidan, you never do that again..." said Tobi as Kakuzu started cutting away at the wound, removing most of the skin around it.

By the time Kakuzu had finished it was almost sundown

"Well that's clean enough" he said

Kisame grimaced "how long do you think she was here?" he asked

"Maybe all this time?" about 3 days is my best guess said Zetsu as Kisame picked up Kurai

"She's like a rag doll, un" said Deidara

"Sadly enough it's damn true" said Hidan

"Yeah well..."

"You love her" we know said Zetsu rolling his eyes

"I'm glad we found her" said Kisame

"But... where are we going to stay?" asked Tobi

"We can't just go back can we?" wondered Kakuzu out loud

"Maybe we can... maybe they're out looking for her" said Tobi "so we can just go back inside"

"I think thats... Oh Gosh Tobi had a good idea, un... is the world ending, un!?" exclaimed Deidara Tobi scowled

"Oh shut up Deidara" he said

"Do you think she'll wake up anytime soon?" asked Kakuzu

"Maybe, I dunno" said Kisame "Wish she does though"

"It's gonna hurt like the fucking hell when she does wake up you know" said Hidan

"He's right" sounded Kurai's voice, Kisame nearly dropped her

"You're awake?!" he asked

"About 10 minutes ago" she said

"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked again, but Kurai remained silent

"Aren't you guys supposed to kill me?" she asked casually

"The Akatsuki is disbanded"

"WHAAAAAT?!" she yelled as she nearly fell out of Kisame's grasp

"Woah calm down"

"You.. did you just... TOBI YOU DISBANDED AKATSUKI?!" she asked

"Of course I did. No one else could have done that" he said

"But.. But... That's the unthinkable!!"

"But I did it, and truth be told I'm glad I did it" he said as they continued to walk

"I can't believe it" she whispered "why?" she asked

"Isn't it obvious? as long as we were akatsuki members following Peins orders we would have to kill you" said Kakuzu "Tobi did it so we could find you"

"More like so Kisame could be happy, un" said Deidara as they all laughed

"Oh you really shouldn't have..." she said

"You're our friend" like a sister to us

"Well not to Kisame"

"But we won't just leave you and be damned" said Hidan

"You're the best" said Kurai as she hugged Kisame

They continued to walk in silence for a few hours even though it was pretty much dark

"Okay we should stop" said Tobi yawning as they all retreated into the shadows, Kisame still holding Kurai as he sat down with her in his arms

"Hi plushie" she said softly as she lay her head on his chest

"Hi little girl" he said as he stroked her hair "why didn't you say goodbye?" he asked softly

"I wanted to..." she said "but... If I stood any more time I wouldn't have left" she said

"I did want to say goodbye..." said Kisame, Kurai looked up, her eyes catching the moonlight and reflecting it off

"If I could.. I would have Kisame..." she said

Kisame looked at Kurai's eyes, under the moonlight they looked almost unreal

"Kisame I'm so sorry..." she whispered, and Kisame could see the surface of her eyes sparkle, he could see every eyelash, every streak of moonlight in her eyes, he could

see himself reflected in those eyes the reflection growing larger, until at a point he wasn't seing anything, only feeling as he let his hands wander from Kurai's head down to her

shoulders, as he felt her hands go up from his back to his neck and they stood there for a long while in that one very first kiss.


	5. Bittersweet

**Chapter 5**

**Bittersweet.**

"You think they'll stop anytime soon, un?" whispered Deidara

"They do need air you know..." Wouldn't suprise me if they stood a long time that way said Zetsu as they all watched Kisame and Kurai with interest, after all

they had never seen a kiss, at least not from this close. Tobi was laughing silently along with Kakuzu while Hidan Deidara and Zetsu watched almost as though taking tips.

"Kisame... don't look now, but we've got a crowd" she whispered in his ear when they had parted. Most obviously Kisame glared in almost all directions

"The idiots" he said as he kissed Kurai on the forehead

"Yeah well... what can we do?" she said as she yawned

"I can think of a lot of stuff I'd do to them" he said rather loudly

"Eh, I think we've been found" murmured Kakuzu as Kisame glared at them all

"Yeah I think so too" definetely said Zetsu as they slowly backed away

They approached the Akatsuki headquarters with extreme caution, after all they really didn't know what kind of actions Pein had taken now that he was his own boss, but

it seemed the Akatsuki was not only trap free, but people free.

Nevertheless, to be sure that Pein wouldn't go happy on them, they did place one or two traps around, just in case.

"Guys that was a hella lot of traps you put there" said Kurai as Kakuzu changed her bandages

"Yeah well, we deserve some peace or rest of some sort, un" said Deidara as he stretched out on a sofa

Zetsu shot up from the ground "That's uncommon for you to say" Deidara said Zetsu

"Everything will sound uncommon now" said Kurai sitting up "Because it's not all how it used to be"

"Damn right" said Hidan

"How you feeling?" asked Kisame

"Okay I guess" she answered "Kakuzu is a great doc" she said smiling

"He better be" said Kisame

"Oy..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's Joking" she said stretching catlike

"God women are stretchy, un" said Deidara with a grimace

"That's just because I dance and do gymnastics, usually women can't or don't like to stretch too much" she said cautiously standing up

"Well I don't think you should stretch too much or you can-"

"Open back up the wound, you're right" she said "Don't worry Kakuzu I'll be careful this time" she said "I wouldn't want any other sweater wrecked..." she said remembering

how Kakuzu had brought up a torn black sweater and how Deidara had blown it up

"Heh, yeah well... that's what happens when..."

"When Shit happens" finished Hidan as Kurai giggled

"You always have to swear don't you?" asked Kurai

"Hell yes"

"It's like his drug" said Kisame

"I guess" said Kurai as Kisame took her hand and led her outside

"Bye byeee" she chanted as she walked out "where are we going?" she asked

"Somewhere special" he replied as they walked down a slope and neared the river

"Is it the river?" she asked childishly, Kisame looked at her

"Maybe"

"Hokay" she said smiling

"You look happy" he said

"Of course, do you know what day today is?" she asked

"3 months since we met" he said

"Yes!" she exclaimed as she hugged him. Kisame smiled. For the first time, he was experiencing what it really meant to be loved, and not only that, but what it really meant to

love someone and want to always have that someone safe with you, to know that there's one person who will always be there for you, someone to whom you can go with

problems and be honest, to whom you can open up and be sincere.

"Even S-rank criminals deserve to fall in love" said Kurai looking at him, as though she had been reading his mind. Kisame blinked.

"Did you just read my mind?" he asked

"Of course not! It's Intuition" she said smiling

"You women are dangerous creatures" he said ruffling her hair

"Nyaaaa mai haaaaiir" she said trying to stop him

"Oh come on" he said "I like your hair any way any day" he said as Kurai desperately tried to flatten the mess he had done

"Really?" she asked

"Kurai, I love you. There's nothing about you I don't like" he said as Kurai blushed furiously "Now come on" he said taking her hand once more

"Why the river?" she asked

"It's not precisely the river" he said "It's a better place"

Kurai's eyes widened like plates at the sight

"This cave... it's... oh God Kisame it's beautiful!" she said placing her hands over her heart in awe

"I know... I used to come down here..." he said looking around

"Wow..."

"I also used to hide here" he said truthfully. Kurai laughed

"You sweet man" she said as she kissed him in the cheek. Kisame hugged her by the shoulders

"There's something even better" he said as they sat down to contemplate the waterfall just outside the entrance of the cave. Kurai looked at him and blinked

"Even better that this? I cannot possibly imagine" she said. Kisame seemed to think about it for a while and then brought out a ring, but it was unlike any ring Kurai had ever

laid eyes upon, she gasped. It seemed to be made of an everglowing blueish purple material

"I know it's soon" he said looking up at the cave's ceiling "You're young and you have a lot of life in front of you..." his voice faltered for a moment but he seemed determined

"and I know that we're always on the lookout for danger..." he paused for a moment "I had never experienced such a thing in my life. I never really knew what it felt, and I guess

that it was something similar to hatred what drove me to become what I am now" he said "But then you came along and it's not like I regret all the things I've done, because if

it hadn't been for those things I may have never met you. I didn't think someone like me would ever be happy and find someone like you" he said looking at her

"Kisame..."

"And you're free to choose too... maybe one day you could just go and be happy with someone... more..." he stopped

"No"

"What?" he looked at Kurai showing more suprise than what he was feeling

"No Kisame... that's not going to happen" said Kurai "Kisame... when I was a child, I dreamt... I dreamt of magical things happening to me, I dreamt of meeting a handsome

prince who would always love me and be true and we would be happy ever after. Then I grew up and realized that they were all just plain fantasies and they would stay that

way forever... Then I met you guys, not as in when I came here but before... And Kisame, there were my friends who fell in love with Deidara, Sasori or Itachi. And they'd make

fun of me when I told them that the only guy I really liked was you. Now... you may ask yourself why. Even I don't know why. But Kisame... you are my prince" she said "Kisame

no one can replace you. No one. Because I love you for who you are" she said placing her hand on his cheek. Kisame placed his hand on hers

"This is near the impossible" he said "I never-"

"Thought you'd be loved. But Kisame... good things happen to those who wait" she said "I never thought I'd meet you. My friends always said that it was nothing but a dream

and for a while back then I only thought of it as a dream, and then I came here. And God knows how happy I am, because truth be told I didn't think you'd like me at all" she

said

"How can anyone not like you Kurai... just look at the rest of the organization" he said "you may not be aware of it but you've shown them a bit of the one thing they're all

missing"

"Love"

"Exactly" said Kisame smiling

"There is something weird though..." said Kurai

"What?"

"Well when I saw you all... before, I thought you guys were cold and... even if you fell in love you'd never show emotions like these... or I don't know you guys were so

different" she said with a puzzled expresion

"I think I can explain that" he said "I don't know how unexpresive you've seen us. However it was due to the fact we had no one to relate. We couldn't say someone would

allways be there for us. We didn't have love, nothing, and there was only the feelings of hatred, greed, envy and anger to take the empty space. And then you came along" he

said "We're not even sure how, but you've changed us. You've given us a real reason to fight" he continued "You wouldn't think we'd be like this. But it's just because, like I

said, we weren't sure of what we wanted. We'd follow the orders and fight more out of pride boredom and duty than a real reason" he said

"I see... well... I'm very glad that I could make a good change for you all" she said smiling brightly. Kisame chuckled.

"And we're happier than you can think" he said "besides-"

But Kisame's words were cut short by a loud rumble as the floor started shaking like mad and rocks fell from the ceiling

"Kisame what's happening?!" shrieked Kurai ad Kisame took her and started running for the exit

"I'm not sure" he said, just as he moved out of the path of the falling rocks. However it seemed they were in for more than one surprise as the cave's exit filled with rocks

and huge stalactites started falling from the ceiling, one of them was about to fall on Kisame but Kurai pushed him away and jumped out of the way of the stalactite, just as more

rocks fell, forming walls all around Kurai who covered her head as several smaller rocks fell on her

"Kurai! Kurai!!!" she could hear Kisame calling her name, she looked around but she was surrounded by rocks everywhere

"Kisameee!! can you hear me!?" she yelled as hard as she could

"Yes! keep yelling I'll try to find you!" he exclaimed as he followed the sound up to the very end of the wall

"Kurai? you here?" he asked in a lower tone

"Yes, I can hear you clearly" she said, quite a bit hoarse from all the yelling

"Can you move? are you okay?" he asked

Now that Kurai took a better look around she had very little space to move around, but she could move, and she was uninjured

"Yes and Yes" she said "what about you?" she asked in turn

"Same answer, I wonder what caused that?" he asked

"I have no idea, maybe this cave is above one of the tectonic plates" she said

"Maybe, but that had never happened"

"Really? that's weird" she said as she placed a hand on the rock that separated her from Kisame "It sucks that bad stuff always happens when I'm around" she said

"That's not true Kurai," he said "this world is full of danger and trust me, it's just how we live"

"I guess you could say that" she said yawning "without the air from outside it's really hot in here" she said fanning herself with her hand

"True" said Kisame

They sat in silence for a while, the heat slowly increasing

"Kisame... this heat is unnatural" said Kurai drowsily

"I know, it's very strange" he said

Kurai grabbed a rock and tried to move it, the air around her had gotten thick and breathing was unpleasant

"Kurai don't move the rock!" exclaimed Kisame "it could make the whole wall break"

"Oh you're right!" she said almost out of breath.

On Kisame's side the air wasn't as thick but it was still unpleasant to breathe the hot air

"Why is it so hot!?" exclaimed Kurai in frustration

"I wish I could tell you" he said almost as frustrated as her

They stood in this way for hours until the heat was unbearable and Kurai slid down the wall onto the floor trying very hard not to fall asleep, but that soon became an easy task

as an explosion was heard over at Kisame's side

"KISAME!" she yelled

"I'm fine! Deidara's here!!" he yelled back

"Oy! you're alive, un?" he asked moving in between the debris of rock and stalactites

"Yes, over here, there's another wall" said Kisame gasping for fresh air

"Kurai back away as far as you can, un" said Deidara

Kurai backed until she touched the oposite wall, but she had barely scratched the rock when she yelped

"What?" asked Deidara

"The rock on this other side is... HOLY COW DEIDARA BLOW UP THAT WALL!!" she shrieked as boiling red magma started pouring between the numerous cracks in the rocks

"Move away, un!"

"I CAN'T!! JUST BLOW IT UP!!" She shrieked panicking

Deidara was more than glad to obligue as he placed a small figure on the gound near the wall and proceeded to quickly blow it up. The impact of the explosion sent Kurai

rushing backwards into the magma, but Kisame quickly grabbed the front of her robe and pulled her away. Kurai was semi-conscious by the time they had gotten outside

"Kurai! Kurai! wake up!" exclaimed Kisame shaking her

"Kisame I'm alive..." she said "Just..." her eyes closed as she fell asleep. Kisame grabbed some water fromt he river and splashed her face

"WE'RE AAAAAALL GOING TO DIE!!" she shrieked jumping up

"No, you people allmost got roasted in there" said Tobi as Kurai blinked hard

"Ooh okay" she said "any of you know what that was?" she asked

"Volcano" said Kakuzu "No wonder you people were half asleep in there. The poisonous gases emanating from the lava could have killed a horde of cattle" he said looking

over to the now fuming volcano top which was clearly visible over the hill top

"Oh I see, so then we really were over a tectonic plate" said Kurai

"Heh, yeah" said Kisame eyeing her curiouusly

"Let's get the hell outta here" said Hidan "That lava looks like it could fuckin' burn"

"DUH!" said Tobi, Hidan glared at him

"I'm going to kill you, you little piece of-" but he was cut short as the ground shook once more

"I think we should get out of this place" and fast said Zetsu as they started rushing into the trees and away

The lava covered most of everything, the river, the trees, the cave, everything.

"Are you sure it won't get here?" asked Kurai half panicking

"Oh for God's sake, un. No it can't, un"

"And if it got here, I could always stop it with water jutsus" said Kisame

"Oh you're right!" she said plopping onto a couch "I keep forgetting how strong you guys are..." she said, more to herself than the guys

"Wonder what Pein's planning" thought Tobi aloud

"If it takes too long we'd have to move, it'd probably be something really fucked up" said Hidan

"You're right" said Kakuzu

"Or it could be nothing at all" said Kurai, but the guys exchanged significant looks "what?" she asked "It's not like he needs to attack us out of pure boredom, or like he needs

any of us, I mean I know I'm neither a Jinchuuriki, nor some type of elite fighter, nor some super ANBU kind of person" she said couting off her fingers

"I'm your average not so S-rank criminal kind of girl" she said looking at Kisame boringly, but the looks didn't

vanish from their faces. She looked at them for a while and then asked "Okay, then I'd like to know why the hell you're all sporting such looks?"

"Well Kurai..." said Kisame with a weird expression

"Oh come on aside from Ketsueki-kijo there's nothing special about me" she said

"And that. Is where you're wrong" sounded the voice of Itachi from the doorway.

Everyone stared in his direction, one question on their mind -What side is he on?-

Deidara quickly jumped away from the rest

"Genjutsu, un!" he esclaimed as he tried to move the rest of the people from their transfixed positions, but it was like trying to move a wall... and even that would have been

easier.

Behind him stood Pein Konan Itachi and Sasori

"what the hell are you planning, un" he asked

"You're coming with us Deidara" said Sasori from within his puppet

Deidara thought for a moment, he really didn't care on what side he was, so long he didn't have to do anything. However if he went with Pein it meant going back under his

control once more...

"Whatever, un" he said as he walked towards them and they all disappeared off into the woods

Inside the genjutsu however it was a different situation.

"You see, I'm afraid you're going to have to take back those words" said Itachi nearing them "You're a Jinchuuriki, Not the most powerful one, still a Jinchuuriki" he said as

he quickly appeared behind her "and it is your duty, as one, to die" he said

"NO!" Kurai jumped away, but she happened to jump straight into an Itachi clone, who seized her by the shoulders firmly. Kurai wanted to yell, to plead. But she knew Itachi

was deaf to such manners. Instead she tried to frantically move away

"That's useless" he said as him and the clone jumped out of the place and wandered out into the woods

"I'm so tired of all of this!" she exclaimed as he quickly brought her to where the rest of them were

"Don't worry, we can fix that" said Pein as he started the proceedings to extract the Biju

"I'd really rather you didn't!" she cried as she desperately tried to move the bindings

"That's not going to work you wench" said Konan smirking

"YOUR MOTHER!" she exclaimed furiously. Konan narrowed her eyes dangerously, but Pein shot a significant glance at her and proceeded to extract the Biju.

Kurai screamed as her whole body wrenched from the bindings and ended up floating well above their heads while from her chest a reddish kind of chakra surged and flowed.

-This is it...- Kurai thought -This is what death is like. I never thought it'd be this way, I guess it's kind of pathetic... I wish I could have said goodbye this time. But... death

is quite warm...- she thought as she felt everything in her going numb from the inside out she could see the pale blue sky fading from her vision "Goodbye Kisame" she mumbled

as her vision faded completely...

From below Kisame could see her body well above them as it started to fall towards the earth

"NO!" he yelled angrily charging towards the direction of the falling body followed by Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu and Tobi

"They're nearing us" said Konan

"Let's leave" said Pein "our job here is done" he muttered as he glanced back at Kurai's falling lifeless body and they all disappeared.

Kisame jumped as high as he could and catched Kurai, but the moment she touched his arms Kisame felt the familiar coldness of death, his eyes widened as he landed.

He couldn't tear his stare away from Kurai's face. White, her eyes allmost closed through where the dull hazel of her iris could still be seen, limp yet kind of stiff.

She was dead.


	6. An Apology

My apologies.

Dear readers:

The reason why I have not updated in ages, is only because I have become more busy by the day. Sadly, I now have a job and it's taking away most of my daylight hours, it's been so long since I've even worked on the story that I feel like now that I read it, it's a completely different way from the way I write now.

To be honest I still haven't found the inspiration to continue the story, and I'm starting to get sick now. However, since at my job I still don't do much, I can try to continue it.

A few things you should know.  
I think my writing style is a tad different, hopefully not so repetitive, still descriptive as ever.  
I stopped using Roura Kurai as my trademark name, and it's now become Elliptika. However I won't change the name for Kurai here.  
No, Kurai doesn't die, I promise :)

This letter will stay here as one of the chapters; a reminder of the time it took for me to create an update.

Yes I'm lazy D: how evil does that make me? I don't know.  
Expect an update somewhere between the end of this month and the start of the next one. 


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